Everything has changed
by CrayolaCreation
Summary: A collection of What if's, what if Tom and Izzie had a child? What if Izzie didn't die? What if Izzie was there during Chlo's pregnancy? What if Michael married Christine? What if Philip didn't take the passports? What if Denzil shot Rachel? What if Eddie never found the letters? What if Melissa lied about her Eddie being the father? What if Maxine's baby survived?
1. What if Tom & Izzie had a child? 2x12

**What if Tom & Izzie had a baby? 2x12**

Lorna was lost, maybe not physically but emotionally, ever since she was a child she had only wanted one thing: a family. As a child she had received little affection, and her main aim in life was to fall in love and to have a big family. When she married Tom she thought that her life was complete, she had a husband and a best friend who meant more to her than anything. And yet just a week after the divorce, the marriage had started to go downhill, Tom would protect Izzie even though she could take care of herself, and they would argue of daft things, the simple fact of the matter was that Tom loved Izzie, and Izzie loved Tom. Maybe some things just weren't meant to be. It hurt; it really did hurt seeing her best friend and her ex-husband start dating, perhaps that was why she considered ending her life so soon.

The jealousy wouldn't last forever, she knew that, but every moment she spent with them felt like the moment was drifting through to eternity. However the moment Izzie realised that she was pregnant was the moment that Lorna knew that she had two options: either she could swallow her jealousy and do everything in her power to make the couple happy or move. There was a darker option too, one that she had already considered, but maybe it would only make matters worse by considering taking her own life…

Then there was the night that ruined everything, Lorna felt that her illness was taking over her life, so as a last resort and as backup she called Izzie: her best friend. Tom accused Izzie of always rushing to comfort Lorna and you could hear the bitterness in his voice as he spoke every syllable, the front door had been slammed in frustration. Then came the chain reaction, Izzie had tripped over the table in Lorna's flat and had to be rushed to hospital, luckily Lorna had caught her just in time, almost crushed underneath her weight, and a pupil called Stacey had decided now was her chance to sleep with her crush: Tom Clarkson.

Tom, who was asleep at the time, was awoken by his phone ringing late in the evening, when he saw Stacey in his bed, naturally he yelled at her and told her to get home and the fact that it was late was irrelevant to him.

Lorna was on the phone sounding oddly panicked, in all his years of knowing Lorna; Tom had never heard the sound of desperation in his voice before. Tom left the house as fast as he could, telling Mika and Chlo that he would be back soon.

Lorna blamed herself for Izzie's fall, but she wasn't sure if she could manage Izzie's weight anymore, Tom arrived just in time, the colour had disappeared from Izzie's cheek but Lorna herself looked very pale from exhaustion. The ambulance arrived and carried Izzie away; Tom hugged Lorna since he knew that without her the situation would be far worse.

It must've been a miracle indeed that Izzie and the baby were alright, but Izzie refused to forgive Tom for sleeping with a pupil, even though he had nothing to do with it. When Tom asked for Lorna's help, Lorna made one silent wish that she wanted to complete before she died: To get Tom and Izzie together, because although she couldn't see it before she could see how much they cared and loved each other now.

A new house had been bought, and Lorna now knew that her opportunity had come; she had planned a romantic getaway for Tom and Izzie. Although Izzie thought it was just with her, and Tom thought it was just with Lorna.

They were in for a shock, when they came face to face with each other, Lorna pleaded that if they didn't do it for themselves, and they could do it for her. The night was fantastic, and the two had declared a truce and although she pretended to be happy, Lorna knew her time was up.

That night, Tom and Izzie both cried in each other's arms. The death of a loved one was very emotional, but given the circumstances it was even more emotional, the trio had been so much, and even though at times they had hated each other, in their hearts they still loved each other.

"The baby's coming…" Izzie frantically called, and Tom looked up in surprise, after all the drama the last few weeks had created he had forgotten she was pregnant, which was quite a hard thing to do when she looked like she had swallowed a beach ball. The next few hours, had turned everything upside down, and it was only when reality hit him that Tom realised that he was a father.

"What should we name her?" Tom enquired; it was only fair that Izzie got to name her, since for the best part of her pregnancy he had been kicked out of her life.

"Lorna," the words softly came out of Izzie's mouth, and you could just about hear the words echoing around the room, Tom nodded in agreement it seemed only fair, that they should name their child after the person who gave her life to make them happy. "Tom, I'm sorry, Lorna made me realise that life is precious, but we never know how it's going to end, and I don't want my life to end without tying up loose ends and not forgiving you. I got so used to pretending that we were never going to date that after what happened with Stacey, I-I… got jealous… And I thought that if it could happen once it can happen again, and I just didn't want to be hurt…" Izzie finished, with a tear strolling down her cheek.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen, I was just wallowing in self-pity and it all just got out of hand," Izzie clutched his hand as if to say 'it's not your fault,' "Look at us two, exchanging sob stories!" Tom tried to joke but the last few hours had passed in a blur, "Lorna died trying to make us happy, and that makes her the biggest hero of all."

Izzie smiled, as she held Lorna tightly, this maybe the tragedy of real life, but when one door closes another door opens. It was fair to say, Chlo and Mika were thrilled that Tom and their mum had got back together, it had pained them to see their mum in so much pain after Tom left, both were very proud siblings and were happy to do anything for their younger sister.

It was a dark night, and the stars were glittering above the happy couple, their life was complete and they were finally at peace with each other, "Tom, I love you," Izzie confessed and even though she had said it before it sounded like the words had never been clearer.

"Izzie, I love you too, will you marry me?" Tom proposed, pulling out a ring hastily from behind his back, and even though the setting wasn't romantic the couple, made the setting romantic enough. A few weeks later the funeral for Lorna took place, both exchanged tears, and both felt that they were the cause of Lorna's death; after all she had died trying to make them happy. Then came the devastating news, Tom rushed to the school, only to find that his soon-to-be wife, had been stabbed, the situation was only made worse when Jack confessed that he was meant to be stabbed and Izzie only got in the way…

"Izzie, Izzie stay with me…" Tom pleaded although he knew it was useless.

Everyone was devastated, it was hard to determine who was most upset, Lorna didn't know what was happening, and she remained oblivious to what was happening, but one day she would ask and one day she would find out the truth about what happened, and Tom was dreading that day.

Lorna who was not yet a month old, had experienced more sadness than most adults had experienced in their entire lifetime, she had lost the mother figure in her life. And this little fact just made Tom more determined to protect Lorna at all costs.

**I really didn't like the ending ): I love Tozzie c: maybe I should do a What if Izzie didn't die? I may also do a What if that is set after Tom dies. (imagine if they really had a child, I would feel really sorry for him/ her)**

**IDK, You decide what I do next! It can be any what if set in between series 1-4 or series 8 (I haven't watched series 5-7 yet, since I started watching just before they moved) **

**Hope you like it, and please review on what you think I should do next! (you decide!) **


	2. What if Izzie didn't die? 2x12

**What if Izzie didn't die? 2x12**

Tom Clarkson was worried, he hadn't needed to say his emotions but his actions made his emotions clear, his fingers were tapping nervously on the counter, and his head kept twitching to see the clock.

"Hello? Is this Tom Clarkson? There has been an accident involving Izzie Redpath," as soon as the words reached Tom's ears, he had feared the worst, but the officer hadn't finished speaking, "at Waterloo road." Tom closed his eyes tightly praying that this was only a nightmare.

"Chlo, Mika? I… I'm going to find your mother," Tom cried trying to hide the emotion in his voice; He was reluctant to say any more, if even more than a single word came out they would be able to find out that something was wrong by the tone of his voice. What if the accident wasn't serious?

The journey to Waterloo Road had never seemed to last longer, kilometres seemed to stretch out for miles, and minutes had morphed into hours. Fear was overcrowding his mind.

As he finally reached the school gates, he saw Izzie on the ground in his direct line of vision, the life was draining out of her, and Tom wondered if her life had come to its end…

"Izzie, Izzie stay with me…" He repeated, clutching her pale hands, "we have so much more to do, we are like the dynamic duo, we can accomplish anything if we put our minds to it. There was just so much to do, and so little time… I just wanted to say, I love you and I'll do anything in my power to look after Chlo and Mika." He finished, before noting something urgently, she was still breathing, her breathing was ragged and rapid, but she was breathing, and that bought a tear of happiness to Tom's eye.

"The ambulance will be here soon," a third person said, and Tom turned around angrily annoyed that someone else had seen him confess his love to Izzie, in his mind moments like that needed to be private.

"Jack, what are you doing here? And would you like to explain what happened with Izzie?" Tom demanded, a new doubt now crawling into his mind.

"Lewis Seddon stabbed… I couldn't do anything, it was supposed to be me… not Izzie," Jack mumbled incoherently looking guilty.

"So if Izzie dies, it's your entire fault?" Tom replied, unable to look at Jack's face. "Jack didn't correct him, but looked to the floor guiltily. It was hard to determine who was most grateful and the sudden arrival of the ambulance, a guilt ridden Jack or the husband- to-be Tom.

After they arrived at the hospital, and Izzie's condition was assessed, Tom and Jack had mainly passed the time by Tom shooting daggers at Jack. Only did then did Tom remember to phone Chlo and Mika.

"Chlo, Mika, and its Tom I'm at the hospital… but whatever happens it'll be okay, and we'll get through this together okay?"

Tom resumed his place next to Jack, honestly he was surprised that Jack was still there, he had expected him to run at the first sign of danger, but he had been proven wrong.

"Hello, are you Tom Clarkson… And Jack Rimmer?" A nurse questioned and waited until the both of them nodded before continuing, "So what relation are you to Ms Redpath exactly?"

"I'm her fiancée," Tom replied and the nurse looked at him sadly, why exactly did she need to ask these questions anyway? The only answer that came to mind was patient-doctor confidentiality. "And he's her boss and the witness as to what happed," Tom finished.

"Izzie's condition is critical; I'd say that she's going to be in hospital for a week, but after that her injuries need to be healed, so I think she should rest for just over a month, and she broke her arm…" Tom and Jack both nodded, "but all in all, I'll think she'll survive with minor scars by her stomach, you can visit her now."

Tom didn't need to be asked twice, and he rushed into the open door, Jack was about to follow when the nurse put her hands up to signal 'one at a time.' Jack left finally at peace himself, sure the fact that Izzie was in this state was still his fault, but at least she wasn't dead like he originally thought.

Tom was overjoyed, and even though Izzie was unconscious, he felt like a child on Christmas day, "Everything was going to be okay," he whispered in Izzie's ear, and even though the words were for Izzie he used them to reassure himself.

Izzie came home three days later, bright eyed and happy to be home, Chlo and Mika who were alerted about the situation just days before were glad that fate had decided to turn the tables, the Redpath- Clarkson household was finally drama free. All this drama had reminded Tom how precious life was, so as soon as she was well enough he booked a wedding. He took it upon himself to invite and plan it all, since he knew that Izzie should have a stress- free break, and there was no way that planning a wedding was stress- free.

His eyes darted over the words 'Jack Rimmer,' in his heart he knew that Izzie didn't blame him, but Tom blamed him for what had happened, and even when he knew Izzie had almost recovered he knew that seeing Jack would bring back all those unpleasant memories not just Izzie but for him.

He typed up the invitation quickly, without giving it a second thought, maybe Jack wouldn't be able to go to the wedding after all, but unless he received an invitation Tom would never know. Jack was amazed when he received his wedding invitation; he had a strong suspicion that Izzie had something to do with the invitation, since he knew that Tom wasn't rushing to forgive him.

The wedding day came quickly, and there were no big dramas, unless you count the fact that Tom was shooting daggers at Jack a drama, the I do's were said, and apart from the fact that Izzie stumbled over her words the whole thing went perfectly. The honeymoon was a weekend break in Paris, and both Izzie and Tom claimed that it was the most magical night of their lives.

The new term began all too quickly; there was a new deputy, a new music teacher and a new English teacher: Mr Lawson, Mr Wilding and Miss Koreshi respectively. It seemed strange to think that the new English teacher Jasmine was there to replace Lorna, and as soon as this realisation hit them it made the friendships between the trio more challenging.

The guilt was taking over Jack's life, even though Izzie was okay, he didn't know if he could deal with the dreams about Davina getting hurt or the looks Tom kept shooting at him anymore. Maybe this was the time to end his career as a head teacher.

Izzie and Mr Wilding got off to a great start, even though Izzie was a drama teacher and Matt was a music teacher, they both had loads in common, and they would jump into endless discussions about which musical was better or which composer had the biggest impact on music.

A few weeks later Jack got an offer to teach in abroad, this was like a get out of jail for free card! He invited Davina, and she was happy to accept the offer on one condition, the condition being that she was able to take a teacher training course. Izzie couldn't help but feel guilty about Jack's departure, but he assured her that it wasn't her fault since she had no problem forgiving him.

"Look, Jack I'm sorry, I just assumed the worst, okay?" Tom said, and Jack shook his hand, this was the closest thing he would get to an apology, a few weeks later a new head walked through the doors of Waterloo road, who knew what this head would do and what difference they would make?

But as long as Izzie and Tom had each other they were okay, and that was all that mattered. A new day is dawning for Waterloo road.

**Please review & request, any what if between series 1-4 & series 8, it means the world to me! For the record, Izzie didn't deserve to die (never did Tom) so I happily wrote this fic! c: What did you think (sorry, if you don't think that the hospital scene is realistic :/) **

**What should I upload next: What if Tom & Izzie had a child part II (after Tom died) OR what if Tom didn't die? Remember review and request, there are endless possibilities of what if's. **

**Hm, I was just scouring through past Waterloo road fics and there are an awful lot of Rachel & Eddie fics, who is/was your favourite pairing in Waterloo road and why? **

**_StellaPriceFan If they did have a child I would feel sorry for him/her, I mean by the time she was 6/7 she would've lost post her parents, poor kid, I'll probably do a continuation of the first what if called 'part II' which looks briefly over her childhood, and how Tom coped, and finishes after Tom dies. Making a story is a great idea, but I have so many What if's in my head, I want to finish them all and then possibly make a story out of the one that I think is the strongest! c: _**

**_waterlooroadfan2012 Well I think I'll write a what if Tom didn't die fic soon! After all he didn't deserve to die (he was the best character in the show) At least Tom has reunited with Izzie & Lorna now. _**

**_CBurns1995 Glad you enjoyed and it, and here is your request complete!_**


	3. What if Melissa visited Phillip? 4x15

**I know I said I would do a what if Izzie & Tom had a baby & what if Tom didn't die, but I had the sudden desire to do this what if instead, this is the episode after Phillip's party in series 4 (btw, I haven't seen the episode after this one) c: Hope you enjoy the awkward rectangle of Phillip-Eddie-Melissa-Rachel... **

**"**If that isn't a success, then I don't know what you call a success," Eddie replied, at the almost- pristine kitchen that was spotless except from a tea-stain on the countertop, that Rachel strongly suspected was her fault for rushing to work earlier that morning.

"That depends how you define success," Rachel replied, although she wouldn't admit it, the party was a success, and if she hadn't seen Bolton and the others arrive she would strongly wonder whether a party had took place just a few hours previously.

"Come on, just a few hours before around fifty teens were in this house, and they haven't even left a mark!" Eddie finished, and Rachel felt inclined to agree, "are you sure there was a party here? Or were we just having illusions when we saw Bolton and co?" Eddie slurped his coffee like a kid, but he seemed blissfully unaware of how impolite his actions were, but it had been a long night Rachel had to admit.

"Sorry, about that," Eddie continued sensing her discomfort, "bad habit of mine, every time I do that I expect to hear my mother telling me off…" Eddie trailed off, which made Rachel wonder, Eddie never really talked about his life prior to Waterloo Road, but then again neither did she.

"I don't know about you but when students held teenage parties at my school they used to get really wild," Rachel mused and then shuddered, "honestly I was considering hiding all the breakables in my room and then locking the door!"

"Really you would do that?" Eddie replied curiously, "that would really show Phillip how much faith you have in him," he finished sarcastically.

"Well, you need to take precautions when there's a teenager in the house," Rachel replied, "honestly; this parenting thing is not as easy as it sounds…"

"Don't I know it, it must be really hard for Phillip though, I mean his friends just use him, his mother has abandoned him, his maths teacher was almost his step dad and he is living with his aunt the head teacher of his school. That's enough to drive any kid crazy. " Eddie finished, feeling very sorry for the kid, that kid had enough drama in his life these last few weeks to last a lifetime.

Phillip stood by the door listening to every word that was being spoken, he may have words spoken before but he had never heard his aunt sound so angry about his mother before, she was acting like his mother committed a crime other than being married to two people at the same time. Did Bolton really just use him? Sure in one way he knew that, but in another way he wished that Bolton just accepted him before and he had never heard the words spoken so bluntly before. He tip-toed back upstairs since he knew that no more good would come out from continuing to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"That means that there is all the more reason," Rachel said, and Eddie quirked his eyebrows up in surprise, "we have to show him that we will be there for him and we're not going to abandon him," Rachel continued before taking a deep breath, "and he needs a father figure in his life."

Eddie looked shocked, "me? Don't you think that I… It would be awkward for him? You know having his maths teacher hanging around?"

Rachel rolled her eyes, Eddie's reaction was so predictable, "well, you obviously saw a lot of each other when you dated Melissa," she replied evenly. "Only this time you're doing it as a… friend," her thoughts triggered on that last word, where did she an Eddie stand exactly? Sure they'd kissed a few times but… if they dated it would be extremely awkward since it would affect their work, and he was the ex-fiancée of her sister, and she was living with his ex-fiancée's son.

Eddie couldn't help but feel hurt at this last statement, the truth was Melissa was right he was in love with Rachel, only he didn't realise it until too late, "Uh, yeah I should be going," with that he grabbed his bag, and gave Rachel a kiss on the cheek before leaving.

Rachel went upstairs before knocking on Phillip's door, he opened the door readily, and Rachel was still slightly amused at the cleanliness of the place. "How was the party?" She asked perched on his bed.

"It was good, I suppose," Phillip muttered, "I was a bit distracted that's all," he admitted, looking at his phone which was clenched in his hand, Rachel could guess the thoughts that were running through his mind.

"I'm sure it's just slipped her mind, don't worry Phillip, she'll make it up to you…" Rachel replied almost sure of herself, before reminding herself that she was thinking of the 'old' Melissa who she had employed originally to work for her, and not the 'new' Melissa who had lied to Eddie and abandoned Phillip.

"She won't she blamed me for ruining her life," Phillip said mournfully.

"Phillip, don't blame yourself if it was anyone's fault it was my fault, I was the one who confronted her in front of Eddie," Rachel argued.

"I didn't have the guts to tell her myself, I had to steal her passport and ruin her one shot of happiness," Phillip stated.

"Please, tell me we're not having this conversation, because as I seem to recall you told me, which was quite a brave thing to do, don't put so much pressure on yourself Phillip, after all you're only sixteen," Rachel said before putting her hands up to signal 'no arguing.' "So what does being sixteen feel like?"

Phillip paused for a moment, and minutes passed in a blink of an eye, "you're right, I suppose we're all to blame…" As he was speaking Rachel could tell he was reluctant to admit he was wrong, and he gave an exaggerated sigh of relief as a huge weight had been lifted. A few more minutes passed and Rachel was glad she talked some sense into him. "And in total honesty, I may be sixteen although I felt fifteen only yesterday!" Phillip joked, and it was nice to see his aunt smile, and his aunt felt equally relived when a ghost of a smile cropped up on Phillip's face.

Rachel went to sleep soon after she had escaped from the musty atmosphere of Phillip's room; at least now she could be sure that the aim of the party had been achieved, to give Phillip more confidence.

Unlike most teenage boys, especially teenage boys after a party, Phillip was always early to rise even on weekends. He didn't know how to explain it, but waking up when the sun was rising was like exploring a whole new world beyond his imagination.

He got his camera out, and wondered outside taking pictures, whilst still trying to piece the pieces of what happened yesterday in his mind. He was severally glad that he had listened to his conscious and had stayed away from the alcohol, the taste was foul and he shuddered even at the mere thought of it. And even though he wasn't experiencing the aftermath of an over-dose of alcohol he was still struggling to figure out what exactly had happened with Flick.

He returned back to the house at around nine, where he saw his Aunt sitting down and sipping her coffee, looking half asleep and desperately trying to stay awake.

"Hey, Phillip, you okay?" Rachel asked sleepily.

"Yes," Phillip wondered, and the doorbell rang, and just before he was going to volunteer to get it, Rachel was already on the way to the door and it was like she was expecting the doorbell to ring.

"One packet of cinnamon and raison bagels miss," the delivery man said, in a fake Scottish accent, Rachel looked suspiciously at the packet however much she loved cinnamon and raison bagels she never ordered them…

"But I didn't…" She started, slightly surprised before peering closely at the delivery man, "Eddie? Is that you?" She enquired, before finalising her decision and taking the sunglasses off to reveal a very bashful yet happy Eddie.

Eddie smiled; this was definitely how he defined success, and this time he had the element of surprise on his side. When he bought bagels for Melissa and Phillip, he had learnt how she had despised bagels whereas Phillip and her sister loved them. "Yes! Surprised?" Eddie replied.

"Yes, how did you know that I like cinnamon and raison bagels?" Rachel asked curiously, almost positive that she had never discussed her eating habits with Eddie before now.

"Well, I had a feeling that this house contained two cinnamon and raison bagel lovers, well that and the fact it was a lucky guess," Eddie said reluctant to say the real reason. Phillip got through the door, and surprise was apparent on his face, it was strange enough when his mother dated his maths teacher, but now he was living with his aunt who was the head teacher, and his maths teacher was just visiting… He didn't know what was stranger; this had taken normal to a whole new level.

Rachel hugged Eddie, and they remained in that position for a few more minutes, as if debating whether to kiss or not, after a few moments Rachel pulled away, signalling Phillip's presence. Phillip didn't know what to make of that moment, but the awkwardness was soon forgotten when Eddie pulled the bagel's out of the bag.

The three bagels were popped in the toaster, "so, Phillip, how about we go to the cinema to see Harry Potter?" Eddie replied, Phillip nodded but he didn't get why Eddie was being so friendly, after all it was him who had ruined his relationship, but he was also the one who had saved his relationship from going into a total meltdown.

"Sir, why are you being so friendly to me?" Phillip asked innocently.

"Well, firstly enough of the Sir, it's Eddie, and anyway I feel guilty, I feel that I was to blame for rushing things with your mum, maybe if I had given her more time…" Eddie finished, and it looked like Phillip and Rachel were both going to protest at this statement.

"Eddie, if anyone was to blame it should be me, I was the one who confronted Melissa, and I was the one who dismissed the problem when Phillip first told me," Rachel argued, and it was just as well that the bagels popped out of the toaster, since it stopped Eddie's train of thought.

"Shall, we just say we're all to blame and be done with it?" Eddie said he didn't want this day to turn out to be a disaster; therefore he was trying and struggling to stay away from arguments. "So, Phillip what do you say?"

"Um, yeah, okay, I like Harry Potter, sounds good," Phillip replied, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible. The doorbell rang for the second time in half an hour, Rachel shrugged but it was strange normally the only person who visited this time was the postman, and the postman had already dropped off the parcels earlier.

As Rachel opened the door she didn't know what to expect, and she was almost glad that the distance between the front door and the kitchen meant that Eddie and Phillip wouldn't be able to hear them.

"Hey Rach, aren't you going to invite me in?" The voice asked, the irony of the situation was that it was only yesterday that Rachel was thinking of how disappointed she was in her sister.

Rachel's eyes narrowed, "why are you here?" She asked.

"Why do think I'm here? To wish my son a happy birthday of course," Melissa replied, before rolling her eyes dramatically.

"Mel, his birthday was yesterday," Rachel corrected, annoyed at her sisters absentmindedness. "And you couldn't even be bothered to send one measly text message… How do you think that made him feel?"

"I knew that, but I have a lot on my plate right now, with the mess you created," Melissa said accusingly, and it was like a stab in the back for Rachel, she was only trying to help, although it didn't seem like Melissa saw things from her point of view. "You ruined everything! With your do-gooding ways, Rach," Melissa paused, and Rachel was afraid that Melissa would walk away without even saying a word to Phillip. Her voice was high pitched and it was like nails on a chalkboard, and the sound travelled all the way to the ears of Eddie and Phillip.

Eddie stood paralyzed, that voice could only belong to one person and by the looks of it Phillip had also recognised that voice, if Melissa did anything now it could jeopardise everything that he and Rachel were trying to do for Phillip.

"Mum?" Phillip enquired, but the word sound foreign on his lips. "Where were you?"

"Happy birthday Phillip, I had a few things to sort out that's all, but it's all better now," Melissa replied, she was happy to see her son again yet she was somewhat disheartened by his reaction. Phillip didn't reply, the words that were playing on his mind were hanging up in the air, and in one sense the fact that he was quiet was far better than if he was questioning her sudden reappearance.

There was a crash in the kitchen that could only be caused by one person, Rachel sighed, her sister may have come here to make amends with Phillip and not her, but the fact that her ex-fiancée was here, may not help the situation at all.

"What was that?" Melissa's ears had perked up on the noise, with Rachel and Phillip's present company, she had no idea who was behind that crash, and that made her all the more curious to find out who caused the crash of the pots and pans.

As Melissa saw the inhabitant in the kitchen, her small smile turned into a frown, "are we all playing happy families then?" She asked. "I mean I always expected this to happen… only I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon…"

"Mel, it's not what it looks like honestly! Eddie's just helping me, and we're just friends…" Rachel replied quickly, blushing at Melissa's wild accusation that she was dating Eddie. Friends. That was the second time Eddie had heard that word in the past twelve hours.

"Yeah, Rachel and I, we're just good friends," Eddie replied.

"And do you give all your friends cinnamon and raison bagels at nine in the morning?" Melissa replied, "oh, and do friends kiss each other now?" Eddie and Rachel both blushed at this statement and Melissa rolled her eyes, she was extremely good at reading people's thoughts, and Eddie was like an open book and since she had known her sister all her life she knew how to tell when she was lying and she knew her better than anyone.

"Look, Mel, why exactly are you here?" Rachel asked even if she thought that the answer was totally predictable.

"I want my son back, we can start on a clean slate, he deserves it and I know I was wrong…" Melissa said but the words sounded like they had been rehearsed.

"Mel, have you gone to the police yet? Or have you even sorted out your marriages yet?" Rachel said bluntly.

"No, I haven't but you can't lecture me about not going to the police, we all have parts of the past where we want to erase, and it's not like you were all for going to the police and telling the truth, even though that Stuart guy was blackmailing you."

Rachel was hurt, every now and again her past came to haunt her, but it just seemed unreal that her own sister was using her past against her.

"Maybe Rachel, can't lecture you, but I can, if you don't do it for us, do it for Phillip and yourself, you need to sort this mess out before it gets any more out of hand," Eddie finished stepping in and taking Rachel's place in the battle.

"And you can't take Phillip out of school, it's his GCSEs if you want to give him the best shot in life let him take his GCSEs, and then we can all do what Phillip wants to do, not what you want to do and not what I want to do."

Melissa looked down, Rachel was right, as always, even as a kid Rachel had always been right, "okay, I'll wait until, August when he gets his results…" Melissa finished. "Can I take Phillip to the cinema today? I want to try and regain his trust."

Rachel nodded, pleased that Melissa was trying to make amends with Phillip, after all Phillip was the person who mattered, and now that she thought about it they had been quite harsh on Melissa.

As Melissa and Phillip left the door, Melissa uttered a final sentence, "I'm happy for you two, you deserve each other after all you have been through."

**Ah, I liked this and sorry but poor Phillip, he has been through so much! At least he's got, Rachel and Eddie now c: This is actually like, twice the size of the last chapter! c: **

**I would like 2-4 reviews before the next update since Reviews make me happy! Next update should be tomorrow... **

**Question time: What was your favourite storyline in series 8? **

**I liked the Kevin & Chalky storyline, and the storyline where the Barry's accept Kevin (Is it me or does Kevin get the best storylines?)**

**Thanks to all reviewees! Next chapter should be what if Tom & Izzie had a kid part II. And honestly, I tried to do a what if Tom didn't die, but... it isn't working :c maybe I'll do a what if Tom knew he was going to die? **

**Please review & suggest one-shots (series 1-4 & 8) **


	4. What if Tom & Izzie had a child? 8x30

**What if Tom & Izzie had a baby? (Part II) 8x30**

That night Tom cried himself to sleep and cradled Lorna in his arms, that night was without a doubt the worst of his life. Lorna didn't understand what was going on, as she played with her rattle and gurgled quietly, in a world of her own, and Tom wished that he could exit the real world and enter Lorna's world where everything was sugar coated.

"Tom?" Chlo enquired, as she heard the door bang earlier that night, Mika opened her door revealing her head perching outside the door curiously, and she couldn't but help feel that the quietness of the house wasn't exactly comforting. "Tom?" Chlo continued, and when she got no answer she was even more nervous.

"Chlo, what's the matter?" Mika asked, normally silence was a relief especially with a new born in the house, but she couldn't help but notice that Chlo's fists were clenched tightly.

"Something's not right Mika," Chlo replied, and even though she had no proof that something wasn't as it seemed her instincts had told her that something was wrong, the house was never normally this quiet, and the silence made the situation even more suspicious. "Can you entertain Lorna while I find Tom?" She asked thrusting Lorna in the arms of her sister. Mika had no time to reply since she found herself clutching the child with open arms, as Chlo raced down the stairs.

"Tom, are you okay?" She enquired, but it seemed quite clear that he wasn't okay, all the colour had drained from his face, and he looked like he was about to drop dead at any moment without warning.

"Chlo, can you get Mika?" Tom asked wearily as if he had magically aged over the last few hours, Chlo couldn't help notice that he dodged the question effortlessly.

"Okay, Mika, Tom wants to speak to you!" Chlo called, and she felt tension rising up her body, her fists were still clenched, and Tom was tapping his fingers on the table nervously, as if he was dreading the moment that was going to come.

"Yes, Tom?" Mika enquired, but after noting his appearance she took a few steps back, worry apparent on her face. Tom sighed inwardly, and blinked rapidly as if he was in a dream and in a few moments he would wake up in his bed.

"Your mum… Your mum…" He started unable to continue.

"What happened Tom?" Chlo asked, ringing her fingers in her hand.

"She… She's… dead…" Tom blurted out, as his head collapsed on the table, the whole thing seemed surreal, but it seemed obvious that he was telling the truth why would he lie about something like this?

"What?!" Chlo was the first to react, "No… No, why her? Why now? We need her more than ever now. It's not fair…" She wailed before bursting into tears her head resting on Mika's shoulders. Mika patted her sister's head in an attempt to comfort her, but tears were trailing down her face, "what happened?" She asked.

"Lewis Seddon… was going to stab Jack, but… she got in the way…" Tom said incoherently, and although Lewis Seddon had been the one who had caused the damage, it was obvious that he blamed Jack for the outcome of what happened.

Soon the whole room had dissolved into tears, but who could blame them? They had all lost one of the most important people in their lives, even Lorna seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation, and her eyes were damp with tears.

"We'll get through this together," Tom stated, as he ushered the teenage girls upstairs, it wasn't an easy job, but they needed something to keep their mind of what had happened, and the easiest option seemed to try and sleep.

The days seemed to drag on; Izzie had currently been on maternity leave as looking after Lorna was her main priority and with Tom's income they knew that they money wouldn't be a major issue. However now Tom's job was the only thing that supported Chlo, Mika and Lorna it complicated matters.

The funeral was a small gathering, with over half the guests either pupils from Waterloo road or teachers. Tom couldn't bring himself to make a speech; every time he tried to practise at home it had ended in tears. He clutched Lorna tighter, and he couldn't bear to look at Jack, and even though he didn't want Jack to be there both Chlo and Mika had argued that their mum would've wanted him to be there, since against all odds it wasn't his fault.

Chlo and Mika had solemn expressions on their faces as they made a speech where one would continue talking if the other was on the verge of bursting into tears. Tom was heartbroken, just a few weeks ago they were planning their wedding, his full of life fiancée it seemed incredulous to think that just a few weeks ago she had been living life to the full, and either after the birth of Lorna she had bounced back incredibly quickly.

It was a relief for Chlo and Mika to go back to school even if it was only to take their mind of things; Tom took Lorna who was still a baby to the crèche knowing that they would do whatever they could to help Lorna.

As he entered the staffroom he was greeted by three new faces and several familiar faces. All the old teachers sent him pitying glances whereas the new faces just looked confused at his pale and unhappy expression. Tom had fallen into the trap he had thought that going back to work would help take his mind of things, but this was the place where Izzie had been murdered, and he couldn't look at the school yard without having visions of that night.

"I'm Eddie Lawson: Maths teacher and deputy," the oldest man said cheerfully trying to break the tension, he was obviously Andrew's replacement, the young lady, he looked as if she had only just got her degree introduced her as Jasmine who was English teacher.

"Nice to meet you, I'm also an English teacher, it'll be a pleasant change working with someone other than Grantley," Tom said trying to be open and friendly, he guessed that she was Lorna's replacement, and as he tried to get his hopes up he thought that at least Izzie would be with Lorna and would be living in a world without suffering.

"I'm Matt," said the finale newcomer, who was quite young like Jasmine, "my forte is in drama and the arts," drama and the arts, the words hit Tom like a ton of bricks as he realised that he was Izzie's replacement, he muttered a pleasant 'hi,' before dodging the looks and getting a cup of tea.

Matt didn't understand Tom's behaviour and how he had blanked him soon after he had introduced himself. Was this the welcoming he was going to receive? When Tom went to his classroom to go over his lesson plan Steph spoke up.

"Don't worry, Tom's had a rough time recently, last term his fiancée died," she lingered on the word and Matt had a feeling that Tom's wife hadn't just 'died,' but no-one wanted to come to grips with the reality of the situation, "and now he is bringing up his fiancée's teenage daughters, and his daughter who is only a few months old. The reason why he was so cold was because that's the subject his fiancée taught: drama." Steph finished taking a dramatic sigh of relief, and she was glad that it was her who had set Matt straight; at least he would feel grateful that she had saved him from an incredibly awkward situation.

The weeks turned into months and the months turned into years. Tom was an acting parent for both Chlo and Mika, and he was Lorna's father, it was a tough few years and he was glad that Chlo and Mika had been there to help look after Lorna when he had school meetings. He didn't want them to sacrifice the social experience of being a teenager, but he couldn't lose his job either, luckily they would look after Lorna without complaining, and as long as Chlo had Donte she was happy.

Tom would be the first to admit that he didn't approve of Chlo and Donte's relationship, but as time progressed he realised that they deserved each other, they had just been through so much together: The car crash, the death of Chlo's mum, the marriage, the divorce, the pregnancy, the marriage, the adoption fiasco and of course the birth of baby Izzie.

Tom and Lorna had gone up too Scotland just a few months previously, Lorna was now six years old, with her niece just turning four. Tom missed both Chlo and Mika, and he somewhat selfishly thought of how lucky he was to have Lorna to keep him company on the long nights. He had given up on women, every relationship he had been in had ended up in a disaster, and in reality he had never really got over Izzie. It was like he had a jinx or a curse when it came to women… Lorna and Izzie had both died and Davina had left him, he could go on but the past can be a dangerous thing and can spark up old memories, memories you want to leave behind.

"Okay Lorna, I'd better take you to school otherwise daddy's going to be late for work," Tom said tickling Lorna on the tummy.

"And you'll pick me up from school, and we'll go to the thingy-ma-bob?" Lorna enquired.

"Yes it's a celebration for daddy's friend at work, do you remember him? Mr Budgen?" Tom asked, Lorna had a very short memory and he was curious to see if she could remember his colleague.

"Do you mean Mr Grumpy Pants?" Lorna said innocently, her wide eyes innocently looking for mischief.

"Lorna, its Mr Budgen, please don't call him Mr Grumpy Pants," Tom replied trying to sound angrily but in reality he was quite amused at where she had picked up the expression from. Tom dropped Lorna at the local primary before heading off to Waterloo Road.

Tom was in for a shock as he came face to face with his enemy, well that is if his enemy took the form of a teenage boy: Kyle Stack, otherwise known as the boy who wasn't afraid to use a crossbow on his son. However Tom didn't want to admit it, he had a feeling Kyle had changed, he had paid a lot of attention in English, and it was quite clear that he knew the book very well, if only he could ignore the constant jibes Barry was throwing at him.

Tom picked up Lorna as the day ended, as usual she was full of beans and it was just as well that she was used to being picked up late, as she was the last person in the playground.

"Daddy, daddy!" She called hugging his legs, "are we going to the celebration now?" She asked, and Tom patted her head, and shaking his own at her over-enthusiasm, it was strange to think that he was that age once.

When they arrived Tom dropped off Lorna, and he was greeted by Audrey who had never met Lorna before, "Tom, who is your little friend?" She asked welcomingly as she watched Lorna hide behind Tom's legs.

"This is Lorna; my daughter, Lorna can you stay with daddy's friend Audrey for a bit?" Tom asked, "I need to find Grantley first."

"You mean Mr Grumpy Pants?" Lorna enquired innocently, and both Tom and Audrey struggled to contain her laughter, as Tom left she gave Audrey an unexpected hug. Audrey was surprised and cautiously hugged the six year old back. "Can I call you Rey?" Lorna asked, and Audrey nodded.

"Aw, look at that kid!" Imogen gushed, and Dynasty smiled a genuine smile, "Miss is she your daughter?" Imogen innocently asked Audrey, who shook her head.

"No, she's Mr Clarkson's daughter," Audrey corrected.

"Aint she a cutie!" Dynasty gushed, as Lorna blinked absorbing the attention.

As everyone else went outside, Audrey stayed inside with Lorna since she guessed that like all small kids Lorna wouldn't like fireworks or any loud noises. But instead of the loud bangs that she was expecting to hear there was silence. She quickly escaped from the building as curiosity got the better of her.

"Stay with me, Tom, Tom!" Christine was chanting as if she was waiting for a miracle to happen.

"It wasn't his fault," Tom mumbled, "tell Lorna to be strong," Lorna's ears pricked at the sound of her own name, but Tom's helpless body wasn't moving, and all the colour had drained from his face.

"Daddy!" She yelled rushing forward, towards Tom's lifeless body, but it was no use he was dead and everyone wished that they could've prevented the accident from happening, but to know that a girl barely seven had lost both her parents in two fatal accidents was unbearable.

Chlo, Mika and Josh were told even though it was the early hours of the morning, at first none of them believed what had happened it all seemed unreal, the next day Chlo, Donte and Izzie came to the school, Lorna had spent a restless night in the boarding house, and no-one could really blame her for getting no sleep.

"Lorna…" Chlo cried tears apparent in her eyes as she hugged the young girl with all her might.

"Uncle Donte, Aunt Chlo, Izzie," Lorna said noting their presence, then for a moment she thought deeply as if pondering on a thought, "has daddy gone up to live with the angels?"

"Yes," Chlo said in what she thought was a soothing voice, "daddy has gone up to live with grandma Izzie, your mum Lorna, and Auntie Maxine," both Izzie and Lorna nodded gravely. "Lorna, you're going to come home with Donte, Izzie and I," Chlo stated it wasn't a request; it was an order in a sad, sympathetic voice.

Chlo's phone vibrated in her pocket as she answered it she noted the urgency in her sister's voice, "Chlo…Chlo, its awful isn't it…" Mika started, and then it sounded like she had broken down into sobs. "I was going to wait for the right moment to tell you, Donte and Tom, but… I'm pregnant," Chlo was surprised many people pinned down Mika as the level-headed one in the family, and she knew for a fact that Mika and Brett had broken up several months ago, so who exactly was the father?

"If it's a boy, I'm going to call it Tom," Mika finished before hanging up before Chlo could reply.

Tragedy was something that had struck Chlo all her life, but she knew that it was far worse for Lorna, who would grow up in a totally different world than what her parents had intended.

**Please review! The more reviews I get, the quicker the update!**

**This is so sad :c poor Lorna, I'm not sure what I think of this, it's very sad, but since I promised I'd post it ages ago I finally finished it! (plus I'm kinda curious what would happen if they did have a kid) Tom didn't need to die! Although at least he's reunited with Izzie c: I find Lorna incredibly cute fancy calling Grantley 'Mr Grumpy pants!'**

**One another note I've nearly finished watching series 4 (only 2 eps left)**

**And: Davina left Tom! (Okay I didn't like this pairing- but seriously all he did was help Rose, it's not like she caught them snogging!) **

**All the way through the episode, I was like Miss Allen reminds me of someone, and the same actress who plays Lorraine plays Miss Allen! Grantley saved Bolton's life, go Grantley!**

**Chlo & Donte had a baby! And it seems crystal clear to me that they won't let someone adopt it c: **

_**Thank you to my faithful reviewers}**_

_**Anon Thanks, ooh, I like that idea c: The tables have turned! **_

_** CBurns1995 Thanks again, I knight thee thy number one fan! Oh yeah I liked the Kacey storyline as well. **_

_** WR Thank you! That is an awesome idea, especially as Steph's reaction is forming in my head already!**_

_** 2013 Great idea, but since I haven't seen series 6 it could prove a bit difficult c: how about [any old teacher] returns after the end of series eight? **_

**_As always request & review [any series between 1-4 & series 8] ! Next question what series is the best series of Waterloo road?_ **

**Next update either: What if Tom didn't die, or what if Eddie didn't find the letters [I haven't decided yet]**


	5. What if Eddie didn't find the letters?

What if Eddie had never found the letters? 3x20

The doors were closing to mark the end of another year at Waterloo Road, this year had been challenging both physically and mentally, but somehow the problem had been solved and it had got to thee point that he wondered if it had ever happened in the first place. Six weeks holiday was enough to put a smug, relived smile on anyone's face and Eddie Lawson was no exception to the rule.

Eddie was in a good mood that day, he was almost certain that he and Rachel had sorted things out with Stuart, Stuart had lost everything, but that was the price for blackmail, especially when you blackmailed someone because of his past.

He had a smug smile perched on his face, today was a day to celebrate and not just because it was the last day either, although that was a relief after everything that hadhappened in the past year. The past year was nothing more than a blur of events, and he was glad that the person who had metaphorically held his hand throughout the whole journey was Rachel. Sure, Rachel wasn't perfect, she had wanted to escape from her past and by doing this she created a new identity, her plan in her mind was foolproof, and yet it only took one person to try and crumble the wall that she had built around herself.

His mood was contagious, since as he reached the heads office, he was greeted by a smiling Rachel, and he struggled to remember when the last time he saw a genuine smile on her face. The smile looked foreign, but Eddie didn't ponder over it, he was just glad that the worst of what had happened was over with, although he wished that he could've prevented it from happening in the first place.

Normally Eddie would check his pigeon hole before meeting and discussing plans and arrangements with his boss, but today he felt himself being metaphorically pushed towards the heads office as if some mysterious wind was telling him this was where he needed to be.

"You know what Eddie? For the first time this term, I feel free, relaxed even, and Iwon't let anything dampen my mood, it's been a long term but we've survived," Rachel said happily as a bemused grin struck Eddie's face.

Eddie picked up his coffee and motioned Rachel to do the same, "here's to us," he cried as the tea cups clinked, "and the end of another year at Waterloo road!" Rachel and Eddie hugged, this was certainly a day that marked the end of a long journey, they had been through so much in the past year, but the result of this was that they were more determined than ever.

"How about we get a drink after school?" Eddie enquired nervously, Rachel had never shown any interest in him before, but he had never been known as the guy to play it safe in his mind he was a risk taker, and he was doing what risk takers do best: Taking a risk.

"Okay," Rachel agreed after hesitating slightly, did she really want to be in a relationship that could affect her professional life and opinion?

"See you later," Eddie finished and Rachel echoed him, before dashing off to the staffroom preparing for a commotion in the staff room that was generally caused by the person who liked to spice up their lives with a bit of drama: Steph.

"This is ludicrous!" Steph was ranting with a piece of paper in her hand that

she was waving around wildly, "we trusted her, and after all this time she is nothing but a hypocrite." Eddie briefly wondered who Steph's anger was directed at, whoever it was he pitied them, anyone who faced the wrath of Steph Haydock had better be warned before Steph's anger reached a whole new level. "She accused me of sexually assaulting Claude, when she has done far worse," Steph continued, and that was when the feeling sunk in, only the staff knew about Steph's methods to get what she wanted and they were all members of staff. And since the victim of Steph's wrath was nothing but a hypocrite it meant that she could only be talking about Miss Mason's hidden past.

"I'm going to stage a walk out," Steph announced, as Eddie continued to eavesdrop since he knew that if he entered the room he would be bombarded with questions, and people would wonder if Rachel had confided into him, and in one sense she had, but he was the one that had found out the truth by himself. "Grantly are you with me? We can't let hypocrites run the school now can we?" She continued sure that Grantly would side with her on the situation.

"Hypocrites running the school, makes me question humanity," Grantly replied pessimistically, "I've been here years, heads have come and gone, but right now I need to earn money to support Fleur and I don't want to put my job at risk." Grantly finished evenly, while all the others teachers nodded in agreement, although they couldn't help by notice that the comment seemed odd coming from Grantly, althoughnone of them questioned his love for Fleur. However Grantly had already caught sight of an official's head bobbing up and down outside the window. "Now, I need to find todays edition of the Racing Post since I left it in my classroom, we'll see what the LEA makes of our headmistress now," he grumbled.

Eddie pressed himself tightly against the wall as Grantly came out of the staff room, luckily his classroom was in the opposite direction to where Eddie was standing. He knew eavesdropping was wrong, but if he entered the room with Steph's animated chatter there was a chance that she would clam up and refuse to say anymore, in case he reported her antics to Rachel.

"Tom?" Steph pestered and Eddie had to admit that she would do whatever it took to persuade others too see from her point of view, "are you going to do something or will you let Miss Mason walk all over you?"

"Look Steph, I can't just abandon the girls just because someone has made some stupid mistakes in the past," Tom replied, looking at Steph with his penetrating glare, and it didn't help that he was irritable from lack of sleep.

"Steph, I agree with you, I know you all think I'm a big joke but I'm serious, I really want this teaching job, and if Miss Mason's got bigger problems on her plate then she obviously won't spend a single thought about what I want." Another voice chipped in, Eddie recognised that the voice belonged to Davina, how dare she! Of all the qualities Eddie admired about Rachel the most admirable one was that she always put others before herself.

Eddie peered into the staffroom as he dared to sneak another glance, Steph was smiling at Davina with a new type of respect apparent in her eyes, Tom was shaking his head and had gone back to marking. Whereas Matt and Jasmine remained silent before they found themselves under Steph's watchful glare.

"What Miss Mason did was wrong, but I don't think we should hold the past against her, do you really think that she would go to all this trouble to create a new identity if she wasn't ashamed?" Matt questioned and Jasmine nodded in agreement at her colleague's speech. Eddie was in awe, why couldn't he be that level headed? Instead he had almost quit when he had found out, he had regretted his rashbehaviour almost as soon as he handed his letter of resignation to Rachel. Fortunately Rachel wasn't going to let him walk away so easily, and spent ages trying to persuade him to rethink not just for her but for the pupils.

Steph marched out along with Davina and the other five teachers she had managed to convince. Eddie quickly hurried to the end of the corridor out of sight, if Steph had caught him on the act then he may have to bid farewell to a drama-free last day. As soon as Steph had marched down the hallway, he raced back to the common room as if he had no idea about what all the commotion was about.

"Eddie! Second in command at Waterloo Road," Tom greeted him as he walked through the door, "nice day for the beginning of the end of a year at Waterloo Road," Tom was trying to keep his tone upbeat but Eddie knew he was struggling. "It's been a long year with Chlo and Mika, but it's all paid off, Mika's going to Uni next year, and Chlo is receiving much better grades!" Tom couldn't help but inject some pride into his voice.

Eddie patted Tom on the back, "that's great, mate, you must be proud," he said happy that Tom had managed to keep control of the situation at home wheneveryone had assumed was beyond his control. "Yeah, that's great but... Where is everyone?" He ventured nervously hoping that no-one could detect that he already knew the answer.

Tom held the paper out and Eddie examined in closely, it was an exact replica of what Rachel had in the draws of her office, "walkout, the staff have decided to make a stand..." He muttered before looking at Eddie closely, "did you know about what happened with Rachel?" He enquired nervously as if he was making his way through a mine full of unexploded bombs.

"Yes, but unlike what you think, she didn't tell me, I found out myself," he admitted honestly, before innocently asking, "aren't you part of the walkout?"

"No," Matt started, "I think that you shouldn't judge someone on their past, Tom can't exactly abandon the girls, Grantly needs to look after Fleur and Jasmine... Well, I don't think Jas wants to get involved in Steph's mad-cap plans."

"Glad you had enough sense to not join her," Eddie said trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but really, why did Steph have to pull a stunt like this today?

Tom held the paper out and Eddie examined in closely, it was an exact replica of what Rachel had in the draws of her office, "walkout, the staff have decided to make a stand..." He muttered before looking at Eddie closely, "did you know about what happened with Rachel?" He enquired nervously as if he was making his way through a mine full of unexploded bombs.

"Yes, but unlike what you think, she didn't tell me, I found out myself," he admitted honestly, before innocently asking, "aren't you part of the walkout?"

"No," Matt started, "I think that you shouldn't judge someone on their past, Tom can't exactly abandon the girls, Grantly needs to look after Fleur and Jasmine... Well, I don't think Jas wants to get involved in Steph's mad-cap plans."

"Glad you had enough sense to not join her," Eddie said trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but really, why did Steph have to pull a stunt like this today?

"However we need to sort it out now by ourselves, Rachel has been through enough this term, remember Stuart and the bid for the school building? Well he was using her past to blackmail her, don't you see? This is what Stuart wants, to gradually turn everyone away from Rachel so that she has no support." Eddie finished and he felt as if a weight had been lifted, Tom, Matt and Jasmine all exchanged glances but although it sounded unrealistic, it did sound as if it was at least partly true.

"Do we have a back up plan or are we just making it up as we're going along?" Tom questioned after Eddie's speech, and he gave a sigh of relief that they weren't going to sit back and do nothing which would be far easier.

"Okay Tom, you and I need to find Steph and the others before it gets out of hand, Jas can you help sort out the spelling bee? And Matt can you find some way to keep Rachel occupied?" Eddie finished and the three gave a mock salute. It didn't take long for Eddie and Tom to find the suspects and the leaders: Davina and Steph. By this time Eddie looked furious with the pair.

"What on Earth do you think you're playing at?! You're acting like children the pair of you, I know you feel betrayed for Miss Mason, but can you put your differences behind you for one day? We have the spelling bee and the football game today, what ever will the other school thin of this behaviour? This is highly unprofessional, Eddie ranted without much I input from Tom. "You know what I suggest you do? Write a letter concerning your concerns and give it to her at the end of the day, but nothing is going to be sold by acting like spoilt children." Tom was amazed he had never seen Eddie rant so passionately about something before, it reminded him of when he protected Izzie against her ex-husband.

Steph grumbled something incoherently, while the other five headed back inside apologising, Davina stood silently not wanting to give in so easily.

"Stuart?! Stuart Hoardley?!" Eddie cried as his bird like eyes caught a glimpse of the departing figure. Stuart gulped before casual flicking a cigarette in the direction of the kitchens.

"Eddie, did you receive my little gift?" He asked innocently, every syllable slivered down Eddie's spine like a snake. Eddie growled, to him it seemed as if Stuart took great pleasure in wrecking someone's life. Eddie punched Stuart right in the face, and soon it had turned into a full blown fight. It resulted with Eddie having a black eye and a bleeding mouth, and a broken nose was what Stuart got out of it.

"Methinks, we shouldn't get on the wrong side of Mr Lawson," Steph mused and Davina nodded "perhaps there's another way..." The two teachers left there arms linked as if they were long lost buddies, but that was what worried Tom most, as he struggled to recall the last time Steph and Davina had got on.

"Break it up, break it up!" Tom called feeling foolish, and he felt as if he was breaking up a fight between Bolton and an unsuspecting victim.

"What exactly is going on here?!" a loud voice that demanded authority echoed. That small sentence was enough to get Eddie to stop, he straightened his clothes and rubbed his lip, trying to look somewhat respectable, Stuart mirrored his actions, looking ashamed.

"Mr Clarkson I can handle it from here," the voice said and she gestured towards the crowds, "shouldn't you be helping support the girls football team?" She questioned as she couldn't help but notice that a large number of the portion watching were from the football team.

"Yeah, sorry Miss Mason," Tom replied before ushering the pupils inside convincing them that there was nothing to see, as Rachel directed Stuart to the direction of the nurse her anger was directed at Eddie. The wrath of Steph may be bad, but facing the wrath of Rachel Mason was even worse.

"Eddie, what on Earth were you thinking?!" Rachel started her voice echoing with rage, "it's bad enough as it is, with the school morphing into chaos with the school hosting the spelling bee and football competition, and what doesn't help the situation is having my most trusted teacher, and deputy picking fights in the playground, acting like a school child!" Rachel sighed, she may have felt relaxed this morning but that feeling had morphed into utter disappointment. "Whatever will the kids from the other schools think?! You do realise you had quite an audience there, and we can't have things like this flying around the place."

"Rachel I can explain," Eddie started already feeling guilty of his actions, "the staff knows about your... secret, Stuart sent letters to every teacher, and Steph... Well Steph along with Davina organised a walkout."

Rachel was even more furious now that she had learnt the whole story, "and you didn't think to tell me?" She demanded, "and I suppose Matt and Tom were in on this little plan too?" By this time tears were streaming down her face, "how could you Eddie! Today of all days, I need your support to give a good rep of the school. Why couldn't you leave me sort Steph and Davina out?" Rachel was bitterly disappointed in Eddie, and as she tried to hide her tears with her hands, she couldn't help but question her future at Waterloo Road.

The spelling bee and the football competition practise went smoothly, but everyone knew that the top gossip was about how Mr Lawson had got into a fight, which Rachel realised gave a bad representation of the school.

Then she noticed Grantly talking to what looked to like some sort of official, Rachel unprofessionally tried to dodge the official since she didn't know if she could trust her judgement any more, but nothing got past the official's eyes. "Are you Rachel Mason?" She questioned and Rachel nodded, "there have been several, serious cases of copying in this school, that I would like to discuss with you."

They headed into Rachel's office and discussed the matter further, as soon as the official had finished talking, Rachel asked the question that had been playing on her mind all the way through this conversation, "who are the main suspects of this crime?" She asked.

The official reeled off a list of names, "Chlo Grainger, Maxine Barlow..." Rachel was shocked, how would Tom react when he found out that his step-daughter had been caught cheating? And how would Steph react?

Soon the official was gone, and Rachel gave a very disgruntled moan of displeasure before heading to the spelling bee, she would like to have said it was a clean sweep for Waterloo road, but Carla was the person that gave Waterloo Road an advantage over the other team. As Rachel went up to announce the results, the door burst open and in walked Stuart Hoardley, Stuart's revenge had only started earlier and now was definitely the climax of his revenge. He waved the newspaper cutting as high as he could and announced the truth about the head teacher of Waterloo Road.

Rachel's mouth was open, this was it, the end of her career was now in sight, now that pupils knew the truth parents would get uncomfortable and pull their kids out of this school as soon as they could. Eddie was shocked, Stuart may have looked like a schoolboy looking for mischief with his broken eyes, but the truth was apparent in his eyes.

Eddie stood up his hands shaking, "the mistake we make today, is a trap many of us fall into, we all judge people on their past," he started before looking at his colleagues for support, "Miss Mason, was worried about what you would think if you knew the truth, so she started a clean slate so that no-one could judge her on her past."

"What Miss Mason did was wrong, but I don't think we should hold the past against her, do you really think that she would go to all this trouble to create a new identity if she wasn't ashamed?" Mr Wilding said backing Eddie up, and Eddie had never been so happy to be supported about something in all his life.

"Today, we stereotype people, if someone gets good grades we call them a nerd, if someone is blonde we assume that they are dumb, Miss Mason created a new identity to stop the stereotyping and prejudice, and has proved to us that you can change, even when the odds are against you." Tom finished before exchanging glances with the other two and smiling. Rachel couldn't speak, she had no words to describe her respect for her colleagues, against all odds they had stood by her, after saying a few words, she sent everyone back to their classes hoping that this would help cool the drama down.

"Thank you," she said to Matt, Eddie and Tom, "against all odds you stood by me, and that's something that means I'm forever in your debt," she finished, the three brushed it off, happy that they had done something for their head.

"Waterloo Road will never be the same without you Miss Mason," Tom and Matt said, before Rachel and Eddie made their way up to the heads office.

"Thank you, Eddie," Rachel said genuinely.

"Am I excused from the naughty corner now?" Eddie teased.

"Well only if you behave, but honestly you've been a star," Rachel replied teasingly, before standing up on her tiptoes and kissing Eddie lightly.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything but can I have a word?" Steph said clearing her throat, Rachel rolled her eyes it had been quite clear that Steph had been interrupting something, and Rachel and Eddie both cringed under the limelight.

"Yeah, sure Steph, come in," Rachel said gesturing towards her office while Eddie left, as he pulled a face behind Steph's back.

"Well, I was going to hand you my resignation letter," Steph began holding an envelope in her hand, Rachel's eyebrows perked upwards at the use of the past tense in her sentence as she looked at her colleague with a questioning glare, "but then I realised that just because you did something in the past it doesn't mean I should hold it against you, after all you've changed and you're not the same person in more ways than one, but you proved to me that people can change, and if I quit my job because of your past, if I'm still Max's adopted mum she might think that I may send her back on the streets because of her past, and if i didn't I'd be a hypocrite. And I'm sorry," Steph finished humbly in her usual frank way.

"Apology accepted Steph, I simply can't imagine a Waterloo Road without you," Rachel said happy that she had managed to change her colleague's mind although she hadn't been the one to change Steph's mind.

Rachel sat back and admired the view, and hoped that all the drama had passed even though it wasn't even lunchtime, she didn't know what was next in store for Waterloo Road, but in the kitchens the gas leak and Stuart's cigarette, was slowly starting to spark flames...

**A/N next update will hopefully be tonight or tomorrow but if not it'll be updatedearly August since I'm going away for two weeks! I wrote this chapter yesterday and it wouldn't let me upload ): tbh, these chapters are getting longer! c:**

**Please review & request! Am I excused from the naughty corner now? Haha.**

**R.I.P Cory Monteith who played Finn Hudson in Glee, he will be sadly missed.**


	6. What if Izzie helped Chlo 4x18

What if Izzie was there when Chlo was pregnant? 4x18

A regular Monday morning was not on the agenda in the Redpath-Grainger-Clarkson household, during the summer holidays all the days had merged into one and it was what some like to call mad mayhem or organised chaos as Tom liked to call it.

"Toast!" Tom called raising his voice over the kettle, he pulled two piecesoff toast out at top speed before chucking them at Chlo, who caught and buttered them. For any guest this could end up in a disaster with toast everywhere, but over the past few weeks Chlo and Tom has perfected their routine since they were the early risers in the family.

"Good catch, maybe you should try out for rounders next year," Tom stated, recalling the first time they had tried this time saving method, and lets just say that there was more food on the floor then in their mouths...

"I don't think so, this-" At this point Chlo gestured towards the toast in her hand, "is just down to pure luck and practice, no skill or talent involved," she finished honestly in a tone that said 'I've made up my mind so don't try and change it.'

"If you say so then," Tom replied, his eyes scouring over the newspaper in his hand, "what's on the agenda today then?" Tom asked although he could pretty much guess the answer.

Chlo bite her lip, she didn't want to be caught off guard, she was an emotional mess, even though her exterior gave her an organised and a'I'm a survivor' appearance, her pretence that she was okay was enough to fool anyone apart from her sister and Tom. "I'm going to visit Donte, and then return for visiting hours at the hospital," She announced, brushing a tear aside. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

Tom didn't answer straight away and allowed his thoughts to process through his brain, "I'm sure she'll be fine, and we need to stay strong for her." He answered looking up from his paper, and hugging Chlo, "there is still hope," he finished his voice full of hope but as time went by he had started losing hope...

It had been two weeks after the accident, the accident that changed everything, to Tom all the days had merged into one and he struggled to tell the difference between a Monday and a Tuesday. Whether it was night or day he struggled to get any sleep as his conscious wouldn't let him, his mind would continuously drift off back to that night, the night where everything had started to fall apart. On the outside he was alive: healthy and breathing, but inside he felt dead as if he was struggling to breath, how could something so perfect turn to ashes in just a few weeks?

"Tom...Thank you, for being here and helping Mika and I," Chlo mumbled.

"Well, I know your probably desperate to get rid of your English teacher, who wants to see their teach during the hols eh? But we are going to get through this together; you, me and Mika," Tom replied trying and failing to inject a little teenage slang in his speech.

Chlo gave a ghost of a smile towards Tom to show her gratitude before heading off to see Donte, who remained oblivious to her current crisis. Although Donte was Chlo's long term boyfriend, she couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth, the truth just made it seem all to real, it was a topic that everyone Chlo knew avoided when she was around.

"Alright babe?" Donte asked as soon as he opened the door at the second chime of the doorbell.

"Mm... Yeah," Chlo said as she said the words she had memorised the night before, since her home life had morphed into an emotional state of chaos she was determined to keep everything normal with Donte.

"You just seem a bit distant that's all babe," Donte said and Chlo wondered if she was that bad of an actress or whether Donte just knew what was going on behind the scenes of her fake smile.

"What? Me... I'm fine," Chlo mumbled quickly assuring Donte before zoning out from the conversation.

"You're sure?" Donte replied falling for her lie, "how about we go to your house?" He suggested and Chlo felt tense, "is your mum still seeing Clarkson?" He asked.

"Um, Donte I don't think that's a good idea... You see my mums in hospital," she blurted and the words came out in a garbled mess, "Lewis Seddon... Stabbed... Mr Rimmer... Mum... Got in the way... in a coma..." She finished incoherently.

The silence between the two grew for several momentss before Donte gave a feeble laugh. "You're kidding me right? In just a few moments a camera crew will pop out behind the bushes and say 'you've beenpranked,' well sorry to dampen your mood Chlo but you need to work on your story lines cause I wouldn't believe that even for a moment." Donte said angrily, as his eyes searched for any sign of a camera. Heslammed the door in her face, but Chlo managed to trap her foot in the door preventing it from shutting.

"Donte can't you just listen for once!" She yelled her voice getting an octave higher after ever syllable , the pain in her eyes was apparent and she fought valiantly with her emotions to prevent even the slightest shimmer of tears.

"You mean.. You mean it's true?" He ventured slowly, "You're mums in a coma, and has been for the last two weeks?" Chlo didn't reply but the look on her face proved that Donte's suspicions were correct, he embraced her in a hug but it was only moments later when his eyes glinted like a storm was about to rise. "Why didn't you tell me Chlo? Icould've helped you, you and me, Chlo that's the way it's always been." Donte finished with an angry look that had settled on his face.

"Donte-" Chlo began, but it sounded forced and as if she hadrehearsed this line hundreds of times before.

"Nothing is ever good enough for you, is it Chlo?" Donte finished before slamming the door in Chlo's face and this time Chlo's foot wasn't there to calm Donte down or to try and convince him to see from her point of view.

Chlo didn't know what to do, why didn't Donte understand? When she was with him she could pretend that everything was okay and normal, for her it was a form of escapism, and it was nice for someone to act normal, no-one knew how to act around her anymore it was like they were afraid that she was about to explode. The rain had started to fall in delicate little patterns, each single raindrop merged with another raindrop and it was as if the raindrops had their happy ending even if it only lasted for a few seconds.

Not knowing what to do, she sat on the freshly wet pavement, and rubbed her eyes of the fresh years, she looked like a mess her hair was sticking up at odd ends and her eyes were red and puffy. The life had drained out of her That confrontation Donte had made everything seem so real, and she knew that she couldn't pretend that it wasn't happening anymore.

People shot her pitying looks as they went past, others sent her looks of pure disgust, it was only one dark haired girl that bothered to stop and console Chlo, "look, I might not be a genius, but I know heartbreak when I see it, boy trouble I'm guessin'?" She said before taking a seat next to Chlo and thrusting a tissue into Chlo's open hands.

"That, and other things..." Chlo mumbled before blowing her nose.

"That's the truth innit, us girls have to suffer 'cause these guys can't pull themselves together, I don't know where I stand with my on and off boyfriend half the time." The girl replied her ponytail swinging from side to side, "not that I care," she adde after a moments pause.

"Whose your boyfriend?" Chlo asked, "Perhaps I know him I go to Waterloo road," she added, it would make sense if he went there since it was the local comprehensive, but why didn't she go there?

"Nah he used to go there, got himself kicked out, he's Lewis Seddon," the girl paused and Chlo froze, "what's your name then?" The girl replied oblivious to the fact that the colour had drained from Chlo's face.

"I'm Chlo Grainger, but I really need to go now," she finished after successfully finding a get out of jail for free card.

"Alright, see you some other time, yeah?" The girl who remainednameless said casually, Chlo waved but in her heart she hoped a reunion with this girl wouldn't be anywhere in the near future.

The journey home seemed shorter than usual, or maybe it was because Chlo had remained in her own little world throughout the journey and if Iwasn't for the passenger nudging her and telling her this was the last stop, she probably would've camped on the bus for the whole night.

"Hi Tom," she tried to greet in her normally upbeat manner as soon as she entered the house, but her fake smile couldn't fool Tom who was an expert at faking smiles, Chlo was sure that he could win an Olympic gold when it came to faking smiles.

"You okay Chlo?" He asked even though the answer was obvious.

"It's nothing, I just had a little... Disagreement with Donte," She finished struggling to find the right word.

Tom held his hands up as if he was about to surrender, "don't ask me about relationships, I think I'm jinxed when it comes to relationships, I struggle to remember the last time I was in a happy relationship, ask your sister," Tom finished, and even though Chlo knew that he was trying to fulfil the role of the father he just didn't feel ready to talk about topics like this.

"I'm sure that when mum wakes up, she'll break the Tom Clarkson curse," she said, and she was happy when a ghost of a smile nested on Tom's face. Tom ruffled Chlo's hair and just for that moment she felt like a worry free kid again, before reality hit her like a gust of wind and she went upstairs to seek advice from her sister who also acted like an agony aunt.

Unlike her predictions of what she thought Mika might think, Mika wasn't sympathetic at all and she kept repeating, "you should've told him," and "what sort of a relationship is one based on lies?" When Chlo tried to protest saying that Donte hadn't asked therefore she wasn't lying, Mika simply said, "Chlo he's your boyfriend how's he supposed to help and support you if he doesn't know what's going on half the time?" She saidsmugly, and Chlo couldn't help but hate the fact that Mika had an answer to everything.

"Chlo! Mika! It's time to go to the hospital," Tom cried, but Chlo and Mika continued their animated chatter.

"Just admit it Chlo, my relationship advice is perfectly accurate," Mika finished with a smug smile as if she had just checkmated a king in a game of chess.

"Well if your relationship advice is so good, why don't you follow it?" Chlo shot back without a seconds thought. "I'd imagine that having a relationship would be easy if you followed your own advice."

Mika grimaced, the truth was she did give good advice only she never thought things through in a relationship, and as she rushed she knew that rushing has it's consequences, "touché," she said before rushing downstairs to greet Tom.

The ride to the hospital was silent as usual, nobody wanted to think about what they would see, although the doctors had assured them she wasn't getting any worse she certainly wasn't getting any better. Mika went in first and she would talk about anything that happened to be on her mind, then Chlo went in who would generally talk about school and Donte, in their normal timetable Tom was always the last in, since he was the one who struggled to get to grips with what had happened.

"Hey Izzie," he greeted in an upbeat tone, but it was a struggle to keep a smile on her face when he saw her pale face, "we miss you back home, Chlo's having trouble with Donte, and uh, well I couldn't give her any advice and I'm rubbish at that sort of thing, it's more your forte, how could a guy who nearly backed out of his wedding give decent relationship advice?" He babbled aimlessly droning on in his monologue tone, talking about any particular thought that happened to pop into his head. "I'm no good at this parenting stuff and no-one told me that life was gonna be this way..." He started singing the Friends theme tunetotally off key but it helped keep his spirits up, especially when he heard Chlo and Mika giggle behind him, "anyway I have to go now, and just remember I'll be there for you, 'cause your there for me too!" With that he took an exaggerated bow and gave Izzie a small kiss on the cheek, before exiting the room and letting Chlo and Mika say their goodbyes.

"Tom did I ever tell you that you're a really bad singer?" Chlo said after they had left, on the way home they all chipped in by singing the Friends theme tune, but Mika was the only one who had managed to sing in tune. A normal spectator who knew what the family had been through wouldn't have expected a happy, cheerful family, but they had convinced themselves that Izzie wouldn't want their lives to ground to a halt just because she wasn't well and she spent her days in hospital.

The next few weeks passed smoothly without any major dramas, soon it was back to school and work. If he was honest Tom didn't feel emotionally prepared to go back to work, but he knew that he was going to have to go back to work if he wanted to live on something other than takeaways.

The annual meet up in the staffroom on the first day of term, was quite an exciting time, you could seize up the new staff, and take bets on how long they would last after all first impressions count.

This year there were three new members of staff; Matt Wilding who taught music, Jasmine Koreshi who taught English and Eddie Lawson who taught maths and who was the new deputy head. Even though it had only been one day, Tom enjoyed the animated chatter he tried to take part in with the new members of staff, Matt could drone on in a monologue for hours on end about what sort of music he liked, Jasmine would gossip about whatever was on her mind and Eddie, well Eddie was too busy trying to boss Jack around when he was making his decisions.

"Chlo!" A voice called in the opposite corridor, "look I know I've been a complete jerk, and I understand now why you didn't tell me right away, since I'm guessing you wanted things to stay normal between us," Donte finished at Chlo strongly suspected that Mika had used her superior matchmaking skills to knock some sense into Donte's head.

"Donte I should've told you the truth right from the start and-" She whispered before she found herself being silenced by the mere fact that Donte's lips were brushing against hers. She stood on her tip toes, deepening the kiss as sparks of electricity flew between the couple, the tension had merely frazzled away and no words could describe how she felt.

"Oi! You two, no kissing in corridors," a voice angrily yelled, Chlo and Donte both cringed under the limelight before simultaneously rolling their eyes in perfect sync.

"Haydock," Donte mumbled, "Worse luck I have her next..."

"I have Lawson, I wonder what he'll be like!" Chlo said trying to inject some enthusiasm into her voice.

"I wouldn't hold your breath, see you later right babe?" Donte said before planting a small kiss on her forehead.

The rest of the week passed as a gentle breeze, and it was a blessed relief to go back to work, as all three discovered it was a form of escapism to be able to escape the house, where everything reminded them of Izzie who was still in a coma. Tom couldn't help but feel bitterly annoyed, when Chlo married Donte in secret, it pained him and it made him question whether or not he had achieved anything with Chlo during their step-father and daughter bonding sessions. Another problem with going back to work was the yard, the yard which bought back nightmares of that very night, he found himself tossing and turning in bed at night as he replayed what he thought were Izzie's last words in his head. Chlo and Donte had even earned enough money to rent anapartment, and Tom was worried that she was cutting him from her life, in reality Chlo thought that it was happening all too quickly but she found out that it was the easiest way to numb the pain.

The ride to the hospital was greeted by silence, the receptionist didn't even need to ask for his name, since after all the visits that he paid Izzie he had become firm friends with the staff at the hospital.

"Dear Izzie," He read, every day he would write letters to Izzie, and then read them to her in the evening before stashing them away in a box under his bed. He brushed the hair out of her eyes before continuing. "This week has been my first week back at Waterloo Road, it's so strange without you, Kim and Andrew. Jack is sorry about what happened, but a look of strange relief passed over his face when he realised that you were in a coma and not dead. Honestly I think he's been avoiding me, but I can't control the looks of pure disgust of what he did, he ruined my life, our life and he almost robbed the girls of their mother. On another note there is a new deputy: Eddie Lawson, he seems nice but I think he's too busy bossing Jack about when it comes to making decisions, I think he's losing the plot: Jack that is not Eddie. There is a new English teacher: Jasmine and a new music teacher: Matt, I can just picture you two getting in to an animated chatter about what composer is better or something. The girls are coping, but Chlo married Donte, I feel like she's chucking her life away and limiting her options in the future, but I wish I hadn't lost my temper with her, they have rented an apartment, and I feel like she's driving me away, when I've only just got the hang of this parenting stuff. I wish you were here, love Tom." Tom finished before kissing her pleasantly on the forehead, after ranting his feelings in a simple letter. Suddenly Tom felt an itch on his fingers, when he looked down he saw Izzie's fingers enclosed in his own, was this real or was he just hallucinating? "Izzie?" He whispered as he clutched her hand tightly, there was still hope.

It wasn't until Christmastime until Izzie decided to open her eyes in search of light, Tom was of course overjoyed and it bought hope to their Christmas, Chlo and Donte had broke up about a week after their marriage, maybe she could give him a hand before he completely burnt he Christmas dinner!

Over the next few months Izzie's progress was slow, by late July she was able to go home, but she wouldn't be able to return to work until September. As Tom opened the door to Izzie, it was almost as if she had never left, but Izzie wasn't impressed by the mess that the house had evolved into. "Tom Clarkson! What on Earth has happened here, it looks like a bomb has hit it!" She yelled her voice reaching a higher tone after ever syllable.

"Sorry, but... Things got out of hand," Tom mumbled and he had the grace to look ashamed of the mess.

"Don't worry, the mess makes it look more... homely, it's good to be back," Izzie replied her mood changing dramatically. Tom silenced Izzie's dramatic mood swings with a kiss, electric sparks flew between the two as the kiss grew deeper and more passionate. If they had been outside at this time, they would have looked like a couple madly in love and making up for lost time.

Chlo and Mika barged through the door rushing to their mum like two kids rushing to open their presents on Christmas Day. "Mum, I missed you so much..." Chlo said genuinely.

"Yeah, although Tom's great, he's rubbish when it comes to relationship advice." Mika chipped in. Tom held his hands in surrender, "well say it how it is then!" He said before they all hugged Izzie, who couldn't help but feel squashed in the middle.

"I missed you all so much, hows school and work then?" Izzie asked, and Tom couldn't help but debate what to say; should he tell her that Chlo had been caught cheating? Or how Chlo had almost got trapped in the fire? Or that Jack had gone to Dubai overridden with guilt? Chlo sent Tom a fleeting glance that clearly said 'please Tom, not now...'

"It's been good, crazy year though, but since when do you get a easy year at Waterloo Road? There's a new head teacher and deputy; Rachel Mason and Eddie Lawson, and Jasmine Koreshi and Matt Wilding who teach English and Music. And of course Grantley is aspleasant as ever." Tom finished cheerfully. "There's just a long wait to results day now."

Izzie smiled, "so you survived without me then?"

"Yes, although I'm not sure that I could take anymore of Tom's cooking though!" Chlo chipped in. In only a few hours, the trio bought Izzie up to speed with all the dramas at Waterloo Road, the weeks passed in a blur, Tom and Izzie had started to plan their wedding which would take place in early December.

When Izzie returned back to work, it was arranged that Rachel would interview her and then monitor a few of her classes, since unlike Jack she wasn't familiar with Izzie's teaching style. However none of them were worried, since Izzie had always got outstanding reports from visitors. So it was no surprise when Izzie found out that she had passed Rachel's test with flying colours, and was able to resume her teaching position from one year prior.

"Mum?" Chlo questioned, nervously her hands cradling on her stomach.

"Yes sweetie?" Izzie replied not looking up from setting the books on the table.

"I-I...I'm pregnant," She blurted out and it felt like a huge weight had been lifted.

"Oh, Chlo, how did this happen?" Izzie said turning to look at Chlo.

"How do you think it happened?" Chlo returned rolling her eyes.

"Okay, point taken but how could you let this happen?" Izzie questioned.

"I-I don't know..." Chlo mumbled before collapsing into tears.

"Are you going to have an abortion?" Izzie questioned and Chlo shook her head, "look we'll get through this together," She said before squeezing her hand tightly, "does Donte know?" Izzie asked assuming correctly that Donte was the father of the unborn child. Chlo shook her head, and went to tell Donte who as predicted was overjoyed and excited like a kid on Christmas Day. They got married (for the second time) a few weeks later outside their prettily decorate van, Izzie and Tom filled the rolls of the happy parents, after their initial shock and disappointment.

"Hi mom," Chlo chirped, twirling the wedding ring around her finger, the baby finger was starting to show but she just rubbed her tummy contentedly.

"Hi Chlo, can I talk to you?" Izzie said without waiting for answer she continued, "I know you love hairdressing and all, but you want the best start for your child don't you? And I think that if you did your A-levels and worked really hard, it would make your future unlimited, as you wouldn't be stuck with hairdressing," Izzie finished, biting her lip hoping she had managed to convince Chlo.

Chlo thought about her mom's proposition for a moment or so, "but I'd still be the teenager with a kid wouldn't I?"

"Well that makes it all the more important, this maybe your last chance, next year your have your hands full with a baby, and you have just enough time to catch up, I don't want you to be stuck with hairdressing your whole life that's all," Izzie finished darting a look at the calendarthat pointed to the 1st of December.

"Mom I think your right, I-I, it's only been a few months, but I already feel out of my depth..." Chlo whispered, "looks like I'll have my hands full then," she said, normally she wouldn't agree so easily, but she knew her mom was out, already she felt out of her depth even though only a few months had passed. Izzie smiled glad that she was able to talk some sense into her youngest child.

"Thanks mom, I think I'll do that," Chlo said before wandering back to her room. After darting another glance at the calendar, Izzie noticed something else in just under thirty days, she would be married to Tom: The love of her life, they had planned to get married on New Years Eve which would add magic to the already magically night, they hadn't organised a big wedding and most of the guests were from Waterloo Road, but all they had been through in the past few years had just showed them how precious life was.

As the greatly anticipated night came, Izzie waited nervously with Chlo and Mika who were exchanging make-up tips, she couldn't exactly signal one out and make one maid of honour so as a result they were both bridesmaids. As she walked down the aisle, she couldn't help but smile at the fact that there was a whole pew dedicated to the staff at Waterloo Road and another dedicated to the pupils and friends of Chlo and Mika. The I do's were said and Izzie was thankful that she didn't stumble on her words like she did at her last wedding, her friend Kim, who had decided to rejoin Waterloo Road gave her an encouraging smile. But when Tom kissed Izzie it was almost as if there was no-one else in the room but them. Congratulations were said to the happy couple, even though in some people's case they were jealous that they had found true love.

Tom and Izzie's honeymoon was a week long break in Paris, it was a nice to escape from work, and they found each other enjoying the others company. Elsewhere Chlo and Donte were having more arguments when Chlo suggested that she go to university and give up the baby for adoption.

When Tom and Izzie returned they hoped to receive a small transition from their holiday to their ordinary lives as husband and wife, but Chlo was in tears like she had been for the past few days.

"Chlo what's the matter?" Izzie enquired, she may have just remarried, but as always she was a parent first and foremost.

"Mom, I messed up big time... I want to go to Uni," she announced.

"How is that messing up? Going to Uni will be great!" Izzie enthused.

"Donte says I'm being selfish, and I will be a mum first and foremost," Chlo complained.

"Well," Izzie started, "being a mom is a full time job, and you'd probably have to wait a few years, but if this is really what you want then... I will happy to look after your baby while your at Uni, with Tom and Donte's help of course," she suggested and a shimmer of sunlight glistened on Chlo's face.

"Really?!" She asked incredulously, "you would do that for me?" She asked, Izzie didn't say anything but her smile said everything, "thanks mom!"

Chlo left the room with a radiant smile on her face, and she must've cleared things up with Donte, or maybe just sometimes actions speak louder than words. It was only a few weeks later when Tom stormed into the house with an angry look on his face.

"Did you know about this?" He demanded and Izzie shook her head, in her defence, she didn't even know what he was talking about, "Chlo is going to put the baby up for adoption," he ranted and he looked incredibly stressed out, and anxious defeat was sprawled over his face. Izzie prayed that he hadn't already confronted Chlo but he already had, and he had gone into a full blown rage something Izzie was glad that she didn't have to witness.

When Chlo came into the house Izzie decided to make her move, "Chlo," she said in a softly, demanding voice that could be heard even above the sound of the kettle boiling, "you don't have to do this, you don't have to put your kid up for adoption, he can live with Tom and I if you want, we will be the kids grandparents after all." She softly suggested in a quiet tone, Chlo didn't say anything in return, but Izzie could tell that she was thinking about it and she was debating whether to tell Donte or not.

It turned out that Donte was serious about fighting over custody of the child, he even admitted to Chlo that he would get a divorce if it meant bringing up his child. However the lawyer decided that Tom and Izzie would make an ideal couple to bring up the kid and that way Chlo and Donte, could visit whenever they wanted. Donte wasn't overly thrilled with this idea although it seemed like a perfect solution, in his mind it looked as if Tom was trying to take over the role of the baby's father by bringing him or her up, something Donte secretly looked forward to doing. He had messed up so many things before in his life he wasn't going to mess up this. In the end he had yelled at Chlo that she was being selfish and only doing the things she wanted to do and she ran out the room crying.

Chlo became anxious when she saw a trickle of water roll down her leg in the bathroom stall. "Mom?" She asked nervously, it was too early... far too early...

"Chlo, it's Miss Campbell here," The voice replied and Chlo was glad that she wasn't alone.

"Miss, can you get mom please?" Chlo began, "ah!" she screamed as a great pain overtook her body. Miss Campbell called an ambulance quickly, before ducking her head out of the girls toilets, "Paul, can you get Mr and Mrs Clarkson and Donte Charles please?" She asked.

"What's happening, miss?" He replied.

"It's none of your business, but can you find them it's urgent."

"But I have classes," Paul replied retreating back to his argumentativeself.

"As I said it's urgent," She replied, "now go!" Paul went slowly with his hands in his pockets grumpily, but after a quick look at the teacher's angry face he quickly picked up the pace.

"Chlo, it's going to be okay," Kim assured the teenage girl. It was a relief to see both Izzie and Tom rushing through the door, either they had been relatively close or Paul really had picked up the pace. Kim doubted it was the latter though. Izzie slightly squeezed her daughters hand tightly.

"In, out and in and out," she repeated doing the exercises herself as Chlo did them, "you're doing great."

"Argh!" Chlo screamed as the pain had become almost unbearable. Tom looking at loss to do quickly went to find Donte the father to be.

"In, out, in, out, in, out," Izzie chanted repetitively as her daughter struggled.

Donte came only seconds before the midwife came, "I'm sorry Chlo," he said sincerely, the only words spoken were Izzie's and the midwife's reassuring words throughout the process. It was then Chlo had noticed the tiny infant that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"Congratulations, you handled that really well," the midwife said sincerely, Kim left the room figuring it was for family only. After she broke the news to Tom he jumped up and down like a yo-yo, "it's a girl! I'm a grandfather!" He yelled and hugged everyone in sight.

Chlo, Donte, Izzie and Tom went to the hospital and the infant never left Chlo's arms, even when they reminded her that she shouldn't get to attached to it if she was putting it up for adoption. So no-one was really surprised when she announced the idea of post-phoning Uni for a few years until her little girl went to school. "What are you going to name her?" Tom asked curiously.

"Charlotte," Chlo mused, "it has quite a nice ring to it Charlotte Charles..."

A few days later it was the end of term, and now that they looked back at it this year had passed like snow fall in a blizzard.

"Say cheese!" A voice called, and they all smiled Tom with his arm wrapped around Izzie, Chlo cradling Charlotte in her arms, and Donte with his arm around Chlo's face, and he was looking at Charlotte lovingly. They were a picture perfect family as one might say.

A/N I hope you enjoyed this, I decided that I would put Izzie in a coma until the summer, shortly after the fire, but I'm sure I babbled on for far to long about how Chlo, Mika and Tom were coping. This is such a cute idea for a one shot though ;) I wish this happened in the show though. Haha, I've just noticed that the majority of requests focus on either the Redpath-Clarkson-Grainger household or the Ryan-Lawson-Mason household. OMG, I just watched (well, a week ago...) the series 4 finale! No happy ending ): I'm just going to pretend that Melissa had a pillow stuffed up her stomach... Are the BBC on a mission to destroy all my favourite couples? On another note, Andrew returned at least there is one happy couple (; Oh, and congrats to Prince William and Kate on the birth of their son; Prince George who is third in line to the throne of Britain. Please review & request (it makes me happy! but between series1-4 & 8 only) Seriously, these what ifs are getting long... What would you name Chlo and Donte's baby if Izzie was alive? -Kat.

oh, three reviews and I'll update by tomorrow (well, today since its 1am...) if not Ill update later this week.


	7. What if Eddie stayed with Rachel? 3x20

What if Eddie went for a final check around the school with Rachel? 3x20

Flames had engulfed the school, the school had morphed into a glaring ball of amber, a sea of red had consumed the school giving a short-lived life to any unsuspecting victim that happened to be in the school.

Soon the flames would die down and it would turn into just a bowl of ashes, but what if someone was in the building? What if someone would die just because she allowed herself to be blackmailed? Rachel knew that she couldn't walk in next term, with a pupil's death on her conscience. Everybody deserves a second chance she thought to herself, she herself had got a second chance, and being a teacher was all about giving people the best opportunities: or a second chance as one might say, but if a pupil died... That pupil would be deprived of their second chance, something Rachel knew she would regret for the rest of her life if she didn't do something.

"Eddie I'm going to do a final check around the school," she announced to her deputy who was sadly looking around at the few people who were injured, and who were being taken to the hospital. He didn't make any action to show that he had heard her, He just stood there staring at the burning building with a look of disbelief painted on his face. Rachel moved forward, trying to compose herself, since she knew that once she had entered the building she would need all her strength to find any unsuspecting victims.

"Rachel, look, it looks like everyone is here," He replied, "probably" he added as an afterthought.

"Eddie! Probably isn't good enough, school is supposed to be a safe place, how could I live with the death of a pupil on my conscious?

"Well-" Eddie reasoned, "I'm not losing you again," he finished, with a look of sincerity in his eyes.

"What, Eddie-?" Rachel opened her mouth to protest.

"Rachel-" Eddie began cutting her off halfway through her sentence, "I'm coming with you." He gripped her hand tightly, his hand was shaking with nerves, if anyone was seriously hurt he blamed himself, if he hadn't confronted Stuart then this would've happened, "we're all in this together."

"Thank you Eddie," Rachel whispered, "but why are you doing this? Why not just let me walk away?"

"Because, through all this pain and suffering, and the prejudice you'll have to deal with, I want you to know that I'll be there for you," Eddie finished honestly.

"Eddie, I-" Rachel began, but no words summed up how she felt, once again Eddie had managed to leave her speechless. She motioned towards the building, before ducking in as Jasmine throw a couple of blankets from the playgroup.

"Trust me, you're going to need them, but I don't know what you're thinking..." Jasmine said in a monotone voice as if she was trying to block out everything that had happened earlier. And she tried to say it in a neutral tone so that she could assure Rachel that she wasn't trying to judge her based on her history.

"You ready?" Eddie asked, his voice indifferent to a kid going on thescariest roller coaster, but then again life is the scariest roller coaster you could ever go on, and you could never tell what curveballs fate would throw at you.

"It's now or never," Rachel said, closing her eyes not knowing what lay ahead.

They entered the burning building, but no flames engulfed them, however the smoke had travelled all the way to the entrance, making itincreasingly difficult to breath. Rachel wrapped the blanket around her mouth whilst Eddie mirrored her actions, she was just grateful that her colleague valued the present more than the past.

When they got to the midst of the smoke, she wondered if it was a wild goose chase, and she wondered if the building really was deserted, but her instincts told her otherwise. They continued towards the canteen for one last fleeting glance, and they were startled by the sight of onesolitary figure collapsed in the distance.

"Eddie, there's someone over there," she stated keeping her tone neutral, but secretly she was glad that her search had come to an end.

Eddie walked forward nervously, his hands were clenched showing some form of self defence, this was where it all began he thought, so this is going to be where it all ends, here and now.

"Stuart," He yelled angrily, annoyed that he had wasted his time looking for what he believed was a pupil but instead finding a traitor. His clenched fists came into action when he wasted no time punching Stuart in the jaw, regardless of the current conditions.

"Eddie, what on Earth are you doing?" Rachel enquired angrily, "we're wasting precious time here," she finished fully aware that the flames were closing in on them, soon it would be a struggle to breath. "Stuart...?" She asked, the man was conscious but only just, and if it wasn't for Eddie's punch his eyes would have closed and he would've dropped off to dreamland. Rachel grabbed the water bottle she was holding on and through it over Stuart, since although she knew it would be a wild guess, she guessed he was pretending.

"Amanda," he greeted, "nice to see you... For the last time..." He said before once again collapsing on the floor, the strength drained out of him.

"Eddie, we need to get him out of here," Rachel instructed, following her motto: 'No man gets left behind," but disagreement was apparent on Eddie's face as he replied.

"Are you kidding me?" He demanded, "he tried to ruin your life, correction he did succeed in ruining your life, and now you want to save him?!"

"Yes," Rachel said softly, her tone surprisingly calm, "everyone deserves a second chance, if only he had a chance to change, after all I was given a chance to change, wasn't I?" She said, using herself to adapt to Stuart's position.

"I...I suppose so, helping him won't hurt, he doesn't even have any power over you anymore..." Eddie said satisfied that he had managed to reason with himself before it was too late.

"Ah..." Rachel cried, as part of the building fell on top of her trapping her legs and preventing her from moving, she was paralysed with fear, and she knew that the fallen building on her legs was far to heavy for one person to move.

"Rachel!" Eddie cried, dragging Stuart to the main entrance, "Rachel!" He called again abut her face symbolised someone in pain, and he knew that she was struggling to breath let alone talk, "I'm coming back for you..."

Eddie's words echoed in the corridor and they rung in Rachel's ears, "Eddie! Don't come back for me, save yourself," she pleaded.

"Rachel, I'm coming back for you," He argued.

"Eddie, but...What if you die I'd never live with myself," Rachel said disagreeably.

"And if you do, I'd never live with myself," Eddie countered. Rachel didn't reply, and she felt like her energy had melted along with the flames, She clutched the cloth over her mouth, and prayed that Eddie had enough sense not to return, it would be like walking into a death trap.

Eddie continued to drag Stuart to the main entrance, As he saw a speck of light, it gave him a new hope, a new energy which forced him to continue.

"Eddie," a voice cried, "who's that?" a voice called, before recognising the figure, "isn't that the guy who revealed Rachel's secret?"

"He doesn't deserve to live, because of him we've lost the best head Waterloo Road has ever had," another voice said the words iced withvenom.

"Where's Miss Mason?" The first voice said curiously.

"Who cares, she lied to us, she's nothing but a hypocrite!" A new voice chipped in, Eddie had no energy to argue, and in just a few short moments Stuart was surrounded by doctors and nurses, he headed back in the burning building after a few breaths of fresh air.

"Eddie what are you doing?" A voice echoed.

"You can't go back in there!" Another voice agreed.

His movements were quicker, well calculated as he knew from memory exactly where Rachel was, the blanket was cupped around his mouth and already it was becoming a struggle to breath.

"Eddie, you came back," Rachel said incredulously her voice no louder than her whisper, her legs were trapped and her face made her look like she was incredibly brave even though the aura she gave off was that she was in pain, the matter of the fact that was that she might be only a few minutes from death.

"Rachel, I'll always come back, 'til death do us part," Eddie said, as he kneeled down and grasped her outreached hand, she gave a ghost of a smile despite the conditions, her eyelids closed, and her whole body stiffened. "I love you Rachel Mason," Eddie confessed not knowing if she could hear him or not, flames engulfed him, and the last thing he saw was a ball of amber before he collapsed on the ground.

It was terrible timing, nobody could disagree with that, if they had waited five minutes longer then they both could have been saved withminimum injuries, for less than five minutes later, the fireman arrived and sprayed the building with water, if only they had stayed.

Both Rachel and Eddie had swallowed an unhealthy amount of smoke, and they had both received serious burns, they were carried on stretchers, but the hands remained enclosed around each other, no-one tried to force the two's hands apart.

"Oh, no, what happened?" A voice called, as the two unconsciousfigures were carried out.

"This can't be happening..." Another voice chipped in. The pupils and teachers alike both looked horrified, reality hit them when they realised that they had tried to save the person who tried to destroy them, but instead they hadn't managed to save themselves, and if they had saved themselves it was by the skin of their teeth.

Beep, beep, beep. The whirring of the machines held sole response for waking Rachel up, she rubbed her head nervously as she seemed to recall the string of unfortunate events, the clock blinked to show 10:00 but was it 10am or 10pm? Rachel had lost all track of time, and the question of what day it was triggered in her mind.

"Good, you're awake," a nurse said, a small smile perched on her lips. Why was she in the hospital again?

"Who are you? Why am I here? What day is it?" Rachel asked her mind whirring, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep unless she got some answers.

"Well, first of all, I'm Nurse Clinton, it's Thursday July 27th, and there was a fire in the school where you work out, and it's believed that you and your colleague successfully tried to save someone, but you had less luck saving yourself."

Rachel absorbed the information, the fire, how could she forget the fire? It was as if the room had erupted into flames, and once again she was struggling to breath, "how long have I been here? Is Eddie okay? " she enquired.

"Well, you've been unconscious for four days, and yes, Eddie is okay, is he your husband?" She asked, before noticing Rachel's empty ring finger and noticing the lack of a ring, before grimacing.

"No," Rachel answered shortly, before blushing, "I-I he's just a good friend..." She said but she didn't seem so sure, she was having trouble defining what was a nightmare and what actually happened, did Eddie actually say that he loved her or was it simply wishful thinking?

"You can visit him if you'd like," the nurse offered, "unlike you, he suffered minor injuries, just a few burns here and there, you're going to have to use a wheelchair for the next few months, and you have some pretty bad burns. But may I add that the holding hands on the stretcher was totally romantic." The nurse gushed before blushing, she wasn't quite sure why she added that last bit of unnecessary info.

"Uh," Rachel began before blushing furiously.

"Although I'm sure everyone else thought it was incredibly sweet too!" The nurse carried on oblivious to Rachel's response.

"Can we-?" Rachel motioned towards the door, given the chance she would've gone on her own, but she was self-conscious about using thewheelchair plus she didn't know where Eddie's ward was.

"Of course, I was blabbering again wasn't I?" The nurse said, before a small frown perched on her face, "I really shouldn't do that, everyone says I talk far too much for my own good," she mumbled apologetically looking down, before wheeling Rachel out of the room.

A few minutes later the nurse stopped, "here we are, don't go anywhere, I just need a word with Ste- Doctor Hilton I mean," The nurse said, before returning to babbling, where exactly could Rachel go without getting hopefully lost? Rachel quirked her eyes at the trip up of words, Nurse Clinton was definitely looking suspicious as she quickly raked her hands through her tousled hair. Nurse Clinton walked in and started chatting to a Doctor, who had pale skin blonde hair and eyes so blue that it looked as if one section of the sky had been taken out and had been place in his eye. The nurse was flinging her hair about a bit, and thy were both laughing in unison, at least there was hope for some people when it came to reuniting lost love.

"You can come in now!" Echoed Nurse Clinton excitedly. Rachelwheeled slowly into the room, before crashing hopelessly into a vase of flowers.

"I'll get the mop," Doctor Hilton volunteered, flashing a small grin at the very bashful looking Rachel, "looks like you two have some catching up to do," Doctor Hilton finished before signalling for the Nurse to join him.

"Rachel-" Eddie started.

"Eddie-" Rachel began simultaneously.

"I'm so sorry," they both said in unison.

"What? You don't need to be sorry, it's all my fault," they continued in perfect sync, and they both burst out laughing, despite the conditions.

"Look at us! We can't agree on anything can we?" Eddie said.

"Well, I convinced you to have a final check on the school," Rachel began.

"But I shouldn't have left you when I was busy saving Stuart," Eddie continued.

"I was trapped, Eddie there was nothing you could do about it," Rachel finished brutally, and Eddie peered down at her legs that she was struggling to control. "Well, Eddie how are you?"

"I'm good, I mean that day, that day, you scared me, I thought you were... going to die, and I-I it almost killed me, seeing you like that, I couldn't imagine my life without you," Eddie finished sincerely, "how are you?"

"I-I Eddie, that day you almost resigned, it almost broke my heart, I'm okay, I've been unconscious for days, I'm going to spend the next few months in a wheelchair and I've got some pretty bad burns," Rachel replied.

"You cannot see the biggest injuries," Eddie said, before squeezing your hand, "do you remember the last few words I said to you during the fire?"

Rachel shook her head, and then she remembered, but was it real or a hallucination, "I love you, and everyday in this bed all I could think of was you, and that last day in the fire," Eddie said.

"I love you, Eddie," Rachel said, and never had the words meant so much, she leaned in to kiss Eddie, softly on the lips, but instead they ended up banging their noses.

"Ow," Rachel said before rubbing her nose, "maybe we should work on that."

"Yes," Eddie said, "I'll just add that to my to-do list," he finished before leaning in to kiss her softly on the lips, his soft lips brushing against her, and sparks of electricity flew between the pair.

Doctor Hilton and Nurse Clinton returned with a mop and a dustpan and brush, but Rachel begged not to leave with real sincerity in her eyes. And Nurse Clinton looked secretly pleased at any excuse to stay with Doctor Hilton.

Rachel's fingers were entwined with Eddie's, soon after her eyes began to droop, as she slowly dropped off into a slight daze. Eddie watched her actions as she slept, and he made note of the countless times she tossed and turned on the uncomfortable plastic chair. "No, No!" She screamed, Eddie guessed that she was another victim of a nightmare.

"Rachel," Eddie said in what he hoped was a soothing voice, "Rachel."

Rachel's eyes fluttered open, "Eddie?" She asked before clutching him tightly, "that day, the fire, I don't think I can go back there," she whispered. Eddie hated seeing her look so weak and vulnerable, he too had nightmares of that night; of losing Rachel... Dark rings had taken hostage under his eyes. Rachel leaned on Eddie's shoulder trying to hide the tears in her eyes.

"Rachel, I, we're going to get through this together," Eddie said, stroking his hand through her hair, like he did when he tried to console his son when he was upset, "remember you've got a friend in me," he said feebly quoting a Disney film that his son liked. Rachel gave a ghost of a smile.

"Thanks Eddie," she said placing her hands on his, she sat upright before composing herself after her nightmare.

"You've got visitors," Doctor Hilton announced, after finishing his cup of coffee.

"Eddie, Rachel!" Three voices chorussed; Tom, Matt and Jasmine. "Are you okay?" Jasmine asked before staring intently at them trying to guess the damage.

"Yeah, we're fine Jas," Eddie answered, Rachel looked like a deer caught in the headlights, "how's Davina?" He asked Tom.

"She's fine, she was discharged yesterday," Tom replied, "Anyway, we wanted to say thank you," both Eddie and Rachel looked surprised, "that day of the fire, when you saved the person who destroyed your life, it showed how brave you were, and it blew your past out of proportion." Tom finished genuinely, before pulling a box of chocolates and a card from behind his back, "Chlo and Mika helped me to get nearly every student to sign it, and between, Jas, Matt and I, we got the staff to sign it."

"Thank you," Rachel said before giving Tom a gentle hug, before hugging both Jas and Matt, "tell Chlo and Mika, thanks from me as well, I-I..." Rachel was speechless, their concern had touched her deeply. Soon it was time for them to leave, and Rachel marvelled at how many signatures they had managed to get in such a short amount of time.

"So Rachel," Eddie began, "before the fire... I asked you for a drink, shall we keep the promise once your discharged?"

Rachel looked startled, "hm, I'll have to think about that," Rachel mused.

"I can upgrade to a restaurant if you want," Eddie finished.

"I think that has just persuaded me," Rachel teased, "so is it a date?"

"A date it shall be," Eddie announced, Nurse Clinton was ready to wheel Rachel out when three soft words poured out of Eddie's mouth like syrup: "I love you."

**A/N I hope you like this cute Reddie what if, if they had started dating would Melissa ever be employe? The next a few updates may focus on other people|pairings other than Reddie and Tozzie, so request away (series 1-4 & 8)**

**if I did a Michael/Christine, should I do it after he leaves or during some other point?**

**Out of all the past and previous pupils/teachers who would you like to see return?**

**If I get five reviews I'll update tomorrow! If I don't ill update later this week.**


	8. What if Michael married Christine? 8x30

**What if Michael and Christine got married? 8x30**

"Tom, Tom…?" Christine said, her eyes blurred with tears, how could she let this happen? Why didn't she listen to Tom or Nikki? If she did listen to them, this never would've happened, instead she had to go and listen to big mouth Simon whose good intentions had ultimately been proven wrong.

Tom Clarkson was dead, it pained her to say those words, and how could one teacher who always put the pupils before himself fall due to the idiotic acts of a pupil? They say pride comes before fall, but Tom had never boasted before, and he was reasonably modest, in fact now that she thought about it he tended to drown in a cup of coffee and a newspaper.

The whole evening was printed in the newspapers with titles such as; 'teacher falls of roof is it an accident or was it planned?' 'Teacher learns that pride comes before fall,' 'heroic teacher helps pupil, but doesn't save himself.' Christine didn't know what to do, she felt way out of her depth and she wasn't comfortable with microphones being pushed into her face, if it was like this now what would it be like at the start of a new term?

"Christine?" a voice called, an all too familiar voice was Christine's exact words. "I'm up at Scotland; can you meet me at the Starbucks we used to go to?" The voice asked, but Christine didn't know whether to take up his offer.

"Michael?" She asked, "Why here? Why now?" She asked, but she knew that Tom's death must've struck a silent chord in Michael's mind.

"Look I'll see you in fifteen, the seats next to the window as usual," Michael said in an impressive laid back tone, Christine hurried before getting dressed, and straightening her hair so that she at least looked mildly presentable. "Connor, I'm going out, I'll be back soon," she said after receiving no reply she assumed he was meeting Imogen somewhere.

She got there with five minutes to spare, and sat at her normal seat overlooking the sea, the table bought back so many memories, it was at the very centre of their relationship, this was where their relationship had begun. She began to wonder off into a daze, as her imagination overruled her, plotting other ways to end her story with a fairy-tale ending.

"Christine," Michael said, and Christine stood up shaking hands with her ex-boss, it was awfully formally, and tension was rising at every moment when silence was dominating their conversation, "it's nice to see you," Michael said.

"Michael, don't pretend," Christine said harshly, "your last words were and I quote 'I don't love you,' so what do you want?" She said her eyes glinting furiously, her eyes saying the words that she didn't dare to speak.

"Christine, I made a mistake," Michael confessed, "I-I… I love you," He stammered.

"Why should I believe you? Only a few weeks ago you were saying I don't love you," Christine argued furiously, so he thought that he could wheedle his way back into her heart? Well she had let it happen once but she wasn't going to let it happen again.

"But, Christine… I got the job for you didn't I?" Michael said lamely.

"Michael, ever since I got that job I've been way out of my depth, especially with that new deputy you employed, if it wasn't for his great ideas Kyle would've been kicked out and Tom wouldn't have died." She finished furiously.

"Look I'm sorry, but do you knows what I'm going to do whatever it takes to win your heart back," Michael said before leaving. Christine sighed before biting her nails, annoyed that she had managed to get right in the centre of Michael's plans.

The next day a bouquet of roses landed on her feet, on it was the cheesy message that read; 'roses are read, violets are blue, honey is sweet, and so are you,' Christine rolled her eyes, couldn't Michael think of something a bit more original? Then she realised it was an envelope, slowly her eyes scanned over the envelope before opening, there was a new message inside of it which read; 'I may be a head teacher, but you made me feel like an minor creature, but from that very first cup of tea, I'll let you be the boss of me," Christine smiled, it was cheesy but sweet.

Connor woke up rubbing his head, normally his mother would be sitting down stirring her cup of tea mindlessly as if everything else had faded into insignificance, but today she was examining a letter and smiling a smile that looked foreign on her face.

"Hi, mom," he said greeting her but she barely noticed him, before replying with a dazed look on her face.

"Hi, Connor, sleep well?" She asked, before Connor nodded and went to prepare some breakfast, the doorbell rang with a loud continuous 'ding dong.' As Christine went to get in she nervously examined herself in the mirror before rubbing a hand through her tousled hair. She carried the roses and set them in the centre of the living room, and marvelled how they blended in with the rest of the room.

"Michael," She greeted, nervously before inviting him in.

"Hi, Christine," Michael replied before making his way to the living room, "I'm glad you received my gift, and I feel honoured that they are in the centre in the room, where everyone can see them, which proves my theory; deep down you still have feelings for me," Michael said cockily with a hint of arrogance in his tone, Christine hated his know-it-all interior.

"Oh, yeah because it's really easy to forget the person that broke your heart into a million pieces," Christine said sarcastically.

"Well I've decided, that we should go to the park, it looks like this house needs a break from your sarcasm," Michael replied before pulling a coat of the rack, and dragging her outside in the pouring rain, before remembering to open the umbrella.

"Have you lost your mind?" She said, she had only been out a few seconds but already she was soaking wet.

"Nope, it's still fully intact, but I think the question is whether or not I decide to use it," Michael replied wittily before tapping his brain. Christine smiled, she felt like a love-struck teenager again, a feeling that only Michael had been able to bring back, he made her feel relaxed, which was yet another reason why she was struggling to cope at Waterloo Road. They walked in silence, but every so often Christine would steal glances at Michael.

"Life isn't just about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain," Michael said, before his fingers stretched out so that they were entwined with Christine. Electric sparks were flying up Christine's arm at that simple touch and she pulled away slightly. However Michael was edging closer and he wrapped his arm around her waist protectively, and his lips softly brushed against hers.

Just a few moments later Michael was bought back to his senses, and his conscious was yelling at him at the back of his mind, he pulled away slowly, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that," he muttered, but Christine shook her head.

"It's okay, but I don't know… I don't want a repeat performance of last time," she said honestly. "But that kiss, makes me question if magic really does exist." Michael nodded in return, "look, I'm not going to forgive you easily, and after that I still don't whole-heartedly forgive you, but all we need is time, and we need to take it slowly in baby steps."

Michael walked hand in hand with Christine, as they reached the docks; the clouds had been erased from the sky as if it had been rubbed out using a rubber in a stationary kit. A rainbow was perched in the sky, which matched their moods perfectly; both of them had been fuelled with hope after a surprise encounter just yesterday.

"Miss Mulgrew! Miss Mulgrew! Would you like to give you're comment on what happened last week at Waterloo Road?"

"Miss Mulgrew, it says here that Tom Clarkson was a well-liked teacher, how is this going to affect the future of Waterloo Road?" Reporters appeared out of nowhere and they started to thrust microphones into her hand, barely giving her a moment to conduct her thoughts let alone speak.

"N-n-no c-c-comment," Christine managed barely able to hold it all together.

"Hey, why should she have to answer your questions? What happened at Waterloo Road is strictly between the teachers, pupils and staff, it is frankly none of your concern," Michael chipped in, before helping shed the limelight off Christine and buying her time to compose herself and prepare herself for the battlefield that is getting interviewed.

"Correct me if I'm not correct, but I believe your Michael Byrne a past-head of Waterloo Road, what is your comment on all of this and what exactly is your relationship with Miss Mulgrew?" She reporter nosily investigated on the lookout for some big scandal featuring them.

"Look no comment," Michael said angrily, how dare they interfere with his private life, before tugging Christine by the arm and dragging her away from scene which was bound to get uglier as the moments progressed.

"Christine I just want to give you this," Michael said before giving her a cube shaped box with a pretty bow on the side, Christine opened it, inside was a necklace with a pendant in the shape of the heart, "as long as you where this, I promise to remain faithful to you," He said, before heading back home. And from that day on, Michael kept his promise.

A few months had passed since that day, and all the days had seemingly blurred into one, it had taken time to fully trust Michael again, but eventually he managed to regain her trust, whenever one was near the other it was like any others in the room failed to exist, it was just between him and her, and they were all that mattered.

The next day Michael greeted Christine with a smile before she headed off to work, "hey!" he said throwing her a key, "you may need this, you never know what treasures it might unlock," he finished with a bemused grin, Christine entered the school with a strange look on her face, and the feeling that Michael was definitely up to something.

A small rectangular object was placed on her desk, she opened it and inside was a music box, and she fingered the key in her pocket before twisting the lock so that it played a sweet tune. However inside the music box was a note that read; _that first date where I told you I loved you, holds many memories and we have just one more to create, meet me at the window seat as soon as you get this message.' _

Christine hurried off to the coffee house, before telling Sonya to tell anyone that visited her that she was in an LEA meeting, she tried to keep calm but even though her mind was morphing into organised chaos.

"Michael," she said greeting him with a wide smile and a kiss, he held out a box in front of her, Christine fingered the ring of keys on her finger, and selected the small one for the small box. She twisted the key, her hands shaking, as she opened the box. Michael kneeled down on one knee, trying to compose himself, as he watched amazement overrule her face.

"Christine Mulgrew will you marry me?" were the words that came out of Michael's mouth.

"Yes! Yes!" Christine replied before kissing him happily, and she would always remember that day as the day her dreams all came true.

The day came, with happy smiling faces, even though that the whole wedding had morphed into organised chaos, Maggie and Sonya was in charge of the cake and buffet. Imogen, Sonya and Audrey had all agreed to be bridesmaids, and Connor who was finally happy that his mother had achieved happiness was the best man.

Christine walked down the aisle, hand in hand with her father, she had chosen a simple gown, but Michael gaped at her and wondered if this day was real or whether his imagination was playing tricks on him, soon it was time to take the vows, and he wrung his hands slightly nervously.

"I, Michael Byrne, take you Christine Mulgrew to be my wife, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and honour you I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully. Through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy. And until death do us part." He finished sincerely looking at Christine straight in the eye, making sure that she knew that he meant every single syllable of what he had said. Michael gave a sigh of relief when he realised that he had made no mistakes, which he had been known to do in the past.

Christine closed her eyes, many people before her said that if they were in her position they would be nervous, but truth be told she wasn't nervous, because here she was experiencing the moment that she had dreamt of as a teenage girl. "I, Christine Mulgrew, take you Michael Byrne to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever I will trust you and honour you I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully. Through the best and the worst, Through the difficult and the easy. And until death do us part."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride!" Were the last works spoken before electric sparks were running through Christine's body, as she responded to Michael's kiss, there was no need for fireworks later in the evening, since everyone agreed that there were enough fireworks between the two.

**A/N Just to let you know, that I'm thinking of bringing 'Everything has changed to an end' so please no requests for the time being, (seriously, I have like twenty requests- although I'm probably not going to do them all) anyway I have decided to write a fan fiction based on Melissa and her life, since I think that her backstory never really got explained since all we know is that she got married twice and didn't get a divorce. **

**The options are: **

**A) Melissa & Eddie's daughter aged around ten, starts to wonder why her father and mother don't 'love' each other like her friends parents do, and she goes snooping through an old photo books with pictures of Melissa & Rachel as kids, and then later Rachel & Eddie when they are dating, curious and unaware that Rachel is her Aunt, she goes in search of this mysterious person, she also starts to question things at hope keeping Eddie and Melissa at the edge. **

**B) Set during series 5, just before Rachel gets married, Melissa's baby was born in December, but she is never at peace with herself, Phillip convinces her to see a counsellor, with the help, guidance and support of her counsellor she decides to visit Rachel and apologise, and try to get Rachel and Eddie back together/ play matchmaker, since she knew that Eddie still loved Rachel after all this time, but when she realises Rachel is getting married, she wonders if playing matchmaker is really worth the risk...**

**So which one should I chose? [Note;; do we learn any more about Melissa in series 5?] Please, 3 reviews for an update tomorrow!**

** Note;; I'm going to post all the What if's idea's onto a poll, and I'll do the most popular ideas c:**


	9. What if Denzil shot Rachel? 4x1

**What if Denzil shot Rachel? 4x1**

"Denzil put the gun down," Rachel whispered softly, making sure that every syllable fell softly into Denzil's ears, like a drum of the heartbeat, Denzil's hands were shaking and he used two hands to steady the gun, defending himself.

"Denzil, I'm not going to hurt you," Rachel assured him, trying to try and lift the gun from Denzil's hands, but his hands were wrapped around the gun, before pointing the gun steady, the gun went off, making the two occupants of the building, jump in surprise. The gun shot flew towards the building, Rachel flinched, but Denzil's face remained straight.

"Denzil put the gun down, please," Rachel requested, nervously biting her lip, and wringing her hands that were sweating from the tension in the air.

"I need to look after myself," Denzil announced keeping his voice calm and steady, and that was the scariest thing of all Denzil no longer looked like a scared, lost schoolboy but a heartless person who wasn't afraid to use the weapon in his hand.

A bullet flew from the gun, all Denzil wanted to do was to prove that he could look after himself, but at that exact same moment Rachel gave up, and brushed her skirt in dismay, realising this was a battle she had already lost. The bullet hit Rachel in the arm, knocking her out, Denzil looked away shocked and ashamed, he didn't mean for anyone to get hurt, he couldn't move, he was frozen and his bones had gone frigid with fear.

Eddie paced back and for in the school yard, as everyone waited outside nervously, Rachel had post phoned the police from entering the building, but since she had entered the building two gunshots had gone off, and even though Rachel always seemed to have luck on her side in situations like this, this wasn't a chance he was willing to take. He dashed inside, before running straight into a policeman who stopped him, however they managed convince him, to only go in with a policeman.

"Rachel?" He called before trying again, "Rachel? Denzil?" He cried wondering if they had mysteriously fled the scene, but then again Rachel would certainly convince Denzil to own up, but exactly how much did they know about Denzil's character?  
Then he saw them; Rachel lying unconsciously on the floor, her hand outreached her face pale and lifeless, fear was scrawled on Denzil's face, and he looked shocked and ashamed, his bones were frigid, and in one sense he looked almost as lifeless as Rachel.

The policeman was talking in his Walkie-Talkie, at top speed, but Eddie barely heard him, soon they were surrounded by policemen who were pointing their guns at Denzil and telling him to put the gun down. Denzil dropped his gun with a clatter, and his raised his hands cautiously, he looked down at the floor nervously, before he was dragged off into a policeman's car, fear etched on his face, and any onlooker could tell that he looked ashamed.

Eddie called 999 his hands shaking, blood was pouring out of Rachel's arm, and the colour was draining out of her face, when would she learn that not everyone could be saved? He thought, this was her entire reason for coming to Waterloo Road, to give kids a second chance that they deserved.

There was a nervous chatter in the school yard, and no-one was entirely sure what was going on, Denzil was taken to the police station, and Marley his older brother begged his innocence, Rachel and Eddie were in the building but they had yet to come out.

"What's going on in there do you think?" Jasmine questioned nervously to Tom.

"I don't know but Miss Mason and Mr Lawson are both in there, do you think their okay?" Tom replied.

"Well at least they don't have to worry about the gun, you don't suppose that one of them is injured?" Jasmine enquired.

"Well it's the only reasonable solution otherwise they would've come out by now…" Tom insisted. The conversation was interrupted by the loud ringing of the ambulance in the near distance, the worst had been confirmed.

"Oh, my gosh," Jasmine cried, after Eddie and some paramedics carried the unconscious Rachel on a stretcher, "I can't look," she said shielding her eyes from the blood that was dripping from Rachel's arm.

Rachel was taken to the hospital, Eddie was worried, it seemed to him that Rachel spent more time in the hospital than out of it, and she always got mixed up in problems that she could easily have avoided; did anyone ask for her to have a final check around the school? Did anyone ask her to try and plea to Denzil?

The nurse sighed, "And I recommended that she didn't even go to work today, it seemed obvious that she needed more to heal; physically and emotionally," the nurse said, struggling to keep her personal opinion to herself.

"What do you mean? She assured me that she was ready to go back to work," Eddie said confused, was there yet another thing he wasn't aware of?

"Well, I don't know if you know about this, but every night since a few months back, she's been having nightmares of the fire, and she seemed under the impression that you would all turn against her because of what happened," the nurse said shrewdly.

"Oh," was all Eddie could say, why didn't Rachel tell him? They could've got through this together, he then looked at his watch, "I have to go now, we were supposed to be holding interviews, and I don't think Rachel would be very happy if I post-phoned them." Eddie said, before leaving the building and heading back to the school, as the rain fell down around his car matching his mood. The interviews went smoothly, he was about to call it a day, when a woman with blonde hair appeared through the doorway, she looked strangely familiar but Eddie couldn't think where he had seen her before.

"Are the interviews still on?" She asked her blue eyes scanning the room as if looking for another person to be present.

"They've just finished," Eddie said sourly, annoyed that she would be able to delay his visit to the hospital.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was got up in traffic," the women said, blinking rapidly, "you see I was recommended for the job, I'm Melissa Ryan," she said holding her hand out.

"Eddie shook it, "Eddie Lawson, sadly my boss can't be here right now," he finished, and he was surprised when concern flashed across Melissa's face.

"Is Rach- I mean Miss Mason okay? She said trying to cover up the word that had toppled out of her mouth by mistake, Eddie's eyes narrowed. After the small mix-up of words, the interview went smoothly, Eddie eventually came to a decision after debating with himself and trying to imagine what Rachel would say, "look your intentions are rather honourable, but you don't have the qualifications or experience, I'm sorry," he finished, before hurrying out of the room and getting his briefcase.

Melissa closed her eyes tightly, this time there was no Rachel to fight her corner, without Rachel, Eddie was the one with the power, "well, thank you, anyway bye," she said debating whether to ask why Rachel wasn't there, "where is Miss Mason by the way?" She asked smoothly.

"That is none of your business," Eddie replied, "and why does that concern you?"

Melissa rolled her eyes as she gathered her thoughts, it seemed like Eddie had rushed to Rachel's defence, was there something going on between Eddie and Rachel, that Rachel had forgotten to inform her about?

"Oh, have you ever wondered if her opinions differ to your own?" Melissa argued; she needed this job, and Rachel promised that she would get the job, but they had both silently argued to keep the fact that they were siblings a secret.

"I think she trusts me enough to make the best decision," Eddie replied trying not to sound too cross, but it sounded like Melissa was trying to stall him from leaving for as long as possible, "but right now I need to go to the hospital."

Before Melissa could ask why, she was ushered outside the building, and she barely had a moment to collect her thoughts before her phone started ringing.

"Hello is this Melissa Ryan?" A voice asked, Melissa nodded before realising that the other person couldn't see her nod, luckily the other person took her silence as a yes. "I'm afraid that there has been an accident concerning Rachel Mason," he finished before giving the details of where she could find her sister.

She rushed in the ward, only to see a very surprised Eddie, "I can't seem to get rid of you can I?" He asked annoyed yet curious as to why she came to the hospital.

"Trust me, the feelings mutual," Melissa replied, before turning her attention to an conscious Rachel.

"Well I see that you've met each other now, Eddie meet my… sister Melissa, Melissa meet my deputy Eddie," Rachel said regretfully telling Eddie about her relationship was Melissa, there was nothing else that she could tell him but the truth, and he deserved the truth.

"You're her sister?!" Eddie said, before noting the resemblance. "Well, I'm sorry but you can't get the job now, if that was your intention then you put your staff through a bogus interview, and you're showing favouritism, if this actually happened you could've lost your job Rachel!"

"Hey don't blame it on her," Melissa argued, "I helped her, she needed me, when I came to the hospital she was scared and just a shadow of her former self, all I was doing was trying to look out for her," Melissa finished.

"And how were you doing that exactly by putting her job at risk?" Eddie shot back.

"Eddie please understands, I needed an ally, someone who I knew I could trust," Rachel said softly but her words were like a stab in the back for Eddie.

"And you don't trust me?" Eddie finished.

"Eddie, it's not that, when you found out about… my past, you almost quit your job, and even now I don't think you understand," Rachel said softly.

"Rach, why are you even in hospital?" Melissa chipped in trying to drastically change the conversation from more heartbreak.

"One of the kids had a gun and misfired, and accidentally shot me…" Rachel said, "Mel, even though you won't get the job can you stick around for me, please?" Rachel asked, "I bet Phil would settle in easily at Waterloo Road," she said in a persuading tone.

"Okay, but I reckon that you should view Eddie as an ally too, he wouldn't have gone to all this trouble, to get here early if he didn't care for you," she said before leaving the room, with a smug smile perched on her face.

Rachel sat up propping her pillows up to make herself more comfortable, but silence dominated between the couple, "are you feeling better now?" Eddie asked.

"Yes, and for once I think Mel is right, it's just that these nightmares tend to make me question what is real and what is not," she said, Eddie decided not to mention about the nurse, because someone could forge a complaint about patient-doctor confidentiality.

"Rachel, you've almost slipped through my fingers twice, and I just want you to know that I'll be there for you, don't doubt that for a second now," Eddie said holding her hand tightly.

The misfire had done minimal damage, all Rachel needed was a few stiches, and plenty of rest, and it was almost certain that after a week of rest she would be able to return to work, where all the big dramas tended to happen. Her week was almost up and Melissa visited her trying to reunite the sibling bond they once shared, and it was a nice surprise to see her nephew again who had started Waterloo Road just a few days previously. Eddie visited the most often though, and he was acting head for the previous week, and the doctors had come to the arrangement that Eddie would step in, if Rachel was too overwhelmed with work, but knowing Rachel she would be too proud to admit that she was overwhelmed with the workload.

"So," Eddie began as he was talking to Rachel for the last time before she got discharged, "it seems like every time I ask you out for a drink it doesn't happen, so third time lucky, shall we go get a drink when you're discharged?" He asked.

"Third time lucky indeed," Rachel said, "that would be wonderful," she finished. And she was happy to report that for the first time after knowing each-other for almost a year, they finally managed to go out for a drink, something Eddie had been planning for the past few months, when he finally plucked up the courage to ask her for the first time before the fire.

**A/N I couldn't help but feel disheartened when only one person reviewed ): Please, and I've started to review every story I've read on here! So if you review, I'm more likely to read your Waterloo Road fanfics and comment! :) I'm going away (I know- I only just got back from holiday literally!) So I may (or may not) be able to update, IDK. Please request & review, I thought about finishing this story & I've decided that it'll be finished before September. My new fanfic, will be uploaded as soon as I watch series 5 on CBS Drama which is being shown during late September. On another note, I have loads of what if's and I want you to decide what, what if's I should do! *Please take the poll!***

**Please review it makes me so happy! And who is your favourite current character on Waterloo Road and Why?**

_Okay and which fanfic should I do out of the following? (so far I've got one vote for each) _

_A) Melissa & Eddie's daughter aged around ten, starts to wonder why her father and mother don't 'love' each other like her friends parents do, and she goes snooping through an old photo books with pictures of Melissa & Rachel as kids, and then later Rachel & Eddie when they are dating, curious and unaware that Rachel is her Aunt, she goes in search of this mysterious person, she also starts to question things at hope keeping Eddie and Melissa at the edge. _

_B) Set during series 5, just before Rachel gets married, Melissa's baby was born in December, but she is never at peace with herself, Phillip convinces her to see a counsellor, with the help, guidance and support of her counsellor she decides to visit Rachel and apologise, and try to get Rachel and Eddie back together/ play matchmaker, since she knew that Eddie still loved Rachel after all this time, but when she realises Rachel is getting married, she wonders if playing matchmaker is really worth the risk..._

**Also check out StellaPriceFan and her story 'Broken Strings' which focuses on Eddie and Rachel's relationship! It's awesome!**


	10. What if Philip didn't take the passport?

**What if Philip didn't take Mel's passport? 4x10**

The tension was rising as Bolton remained utterly focused, sweat was pouring of his face, he wiped it with a careless raise of his hand, but he didn't look bothered instead a look of grim determination was placed on his face.

Philip tried his hardest to focus on the game and support his friend, but he couldn't help but check his watch, as he wiped the sweat pouring for his fingers. He was in a dilemma and not the kind that most teenagers find themselves in, he wasn't debating on what to wear the next day, but he was wondering whether to confess to his soon-to-be step-father about his mother's past, how would he react when she realised what she was planning to do was illegal? She could go to prison, he shuddered at the thought, his mother had already married twice, and she had yet to get a divorce for either of her previous weddings, a royal mess was the exact phrase he used to sum up his family. He had already confessed once to his Aunt, but when she confronted his mother she said 'she was just waiting for the papers to come through,' and with a click of her fingers it was forgotten as if his mum had placed a memory charm on his Aunt and the conversation and confession had never happened.

Several teachers were watching the match, and Philip couldn't help but feel claustrophobic, it was like he was struggling to breathe, or as if all oxygen had disappeared from his lungs. He looked at the top of his mom's bag, on top of everything else was the passport, in just a few short hours she would be leaving to Barbados to get married, this was his opportunity to delay the disaster that was looming ahead. His hand reached in her bag, and his hands were barely centimetres from the passport, they were floating about directly adjacent to the passport, but he stopped his hand in mid-air, could he do this? Maybe the papers finalising the divorce would come, before it was too late, but what if they didn't? This was a one-time offer, preventing his mother and Eddie from making a huge mistake, a mistake that would end in a disaster, one day would come when Eddie realised that she was already married- twice, with no divorce. Using an enormous amount of willpower Phillip grabbed his floating hand with his other hand, and slowly maneuverer it away from the bag, this was an action he could easily regret, an action that could break the fragile lifestyle that he had created with his mother whilst living in Rochdale.

He walked outside, after watching Bolton take a nasty punch from his opponent, he went outside to try and steady his nerves. His face was white as a sheet, and his energy had drained out of him, he felt faint and he struggled to picture the bench that was in his direct line of vision.

"Phillip are you okay?" A voice asked, their voice full of concern.

"I-I... I'm fine, I just needed some fresh air, that's all," Phillip replied, trying to make his voice sound reassuring, but he noticed his voice was breaking after just a few words.

"I understand," The voice said, coming into view, as predicted it was his Aunt, who quickly transformed from a strict head teacher to a concerned Aunt, "it's a big deal, I get that, you're mum is getting married again, but on the bright side you can get extra help on your maths can't you?" Rachel finished, trying her best to sound chirpy.

"Ha," Philip replied as he volunteered a feeble laugh, "I just want mum to be happy that's all," he said before pausing and examining his Aunt's facial expression.

"Well that's good, anyway you'll see her in a few days," Rachel replied.

"Yeah, I suppose so, but... I just don't want it to end up in a disaster like last time." Philip said referring to his mom's last marriage, where his father left his mother just soon after she got married, complaining he didn't want a 'serious' relationship, which was what their relationship had morphed into.

"Well that's understandable," Rachel said trying to soothe him, "but I can't exactly see Eddie abandoning your mum any time soon," Rachel finished, successfully trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice, even though her brain instructed her to not to fall in love with her sister's fiancée her heart wouldn't listen. "Do you want to go back inside now?" She asked.

"We're going to be late! Late! We can't afford to miss the flight…" A panicked voice said before two figures metaphorically flew out of the building, Philip looked at his watch as he realised that the match had overrun, it was as if he had been given another chance to prevent the looming disaster, but being the coward he was he ignored the new option that was looming before him.

"Mel, it's going to be fine," Rachel assured her, checking her watch for the umpteenth time, "you have at least forty five minutes before the check in closes."

"But what if there's traffic?" Screamed a very paranoid Melissa, Rachel and Eddie both looked at Melissa with confused expressions, this was very out of character for her; Melissa was always labelled as the 'carefree' sister, whereas Rachel was the one she had always depended on, for Melissa to be worried about something was a very worrying thought and it was as if something had stirred in Eddie's brain that made him wonder whether there was more to Melissa than what met the eye. Of the short time he had known Melissa, he knew that worrying was not a word she had in her vocabulary, any problems that she occurred she would brush them off as easily as dirt in her fingernails, so why had she gone into total panic mode about a simple delay? Philip looked up, analysing his mother's every move, trying to calculate what was wrong, he noticed her fingernails which looked ragged an uneven, a clear sign that she had been biting them, yet she only did that when she was seriously worried about something, was her conscious finally catching up with her?

"Melissa, the airport is only ten minutes away, it's going to be fine," Rachel replied.

"Right, we'd better be off then," Eddie said slightly tugging Melissa away, who seemed frozen on the spot, "bye Phil, Rachel, see you in a few days," Eddie finished.

Melissa was paralyzed with worry, her conscious had caught up with her and she wasn't sure if she could go through with this wedding, at first it was just the fear of Eddie finding out the truth about her two marriages with no divorce to speak of, but now a new fear had crept into her mind, a thought that had been locked away since her interview at Waterloo Road.

"Bye Philip, Rach," She said, hugging them both, "you do have the dresses right Rach? And your plane tickets?" She said quickly panicking over last minute details.

Rachel narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her sister, "Mel are you okay?" She asked, her eyes scouring for any sign of a clue that could be the result of her sister's mysterious paranoia. "Mel, it's going to be just fine, all you need to do is rest," Rachel re-assured her keeping her voice calm and steady.

"Melissa-?" Eddie asked, "We need to go now…"

"Oh right!" Melissa said awakening from her daze, as she returned to her normal carefree self, "I'm sorry just last minute nerves I guess," she said before hopping in the car and waving to her sister and her son.

"Come on Philip," Rachel said, as he stood frozen on the spot five minutes later after the car had left the car park.

"I-I should've d-done something…" Philip finished shivering.

"Philip what are you talking about?" Rachel asked.

"I-I c-can't tell y-you..." Philip replied regretfully, heaving the huge weight from his shoulders for just a few seconds, before it came back down and he was metaphorically crushed by his conscious, if he had taken her passport then he could be sure that Eddie knew the truth, that was the only way they could achieve a happy ending, but now it was too late…

"Okay, well, was there anything you wanted to tell your mum?" Rachel asked.

"I-I d-don't know… I-I…" He began before stopping again mid-sentence.

"Philip?" Rachel said her eyes narrowed, "first of all your mum is acting strange, and she was like she had swallowed a whole tub full of worry-tablets, and your mum rarely worries about anything, and now you can't even say a coherent sentence."

"S-S-Sorry, I-I j-just h-hope that it will a-a-all work out…" Philip said making something up on the spot, debating on whether to break down and tell the truth.

"Well, okay, if that's all that's the matter then," Rachel said, deciding not to push the conversation any more, making Philip very relieved, and his relieved smile made Rachel wonder what the secret he was keeping was.

The next two days passed smoothly, and soon it was their turn to board the plane, similar to Melissa, Rachel was having a minor panic attack, only hers took place not on her exterior, but in her interior; or her brain to be exact. "You ready Philip?" She asked, trying to calm herself, while her thoughts were collecting all the possible outcomes if something didn't go according to plan.

"Yeah," Philip said, secretly anticipating his first plane ride, although his mother moved about a lot, they often decided to choose to stay in the country, up until now he didn't know why, but now he knew why, if she got caught getting married, when she was married twice with no divorce then she could just as easily get thrown into prison.

"Let's go then!" Rachel replied, soon they had arrived at the airport surrounded by bright, happy faces that were all excited to go to some exotic destination and to get away from the rainy British weather.

It was only on the plane, when Philip questioned whether he could handle knowing the truth alone, the truth was a burden and it was making him question his every move, he tried to listen to music, and let the lyrics take over, but it was like he was trying to find the off button on his conscious when there wasn't one to find.

"Aunt Rachel?" He asked nervously coming to a decision, unlike most adults on the plane, Rachel was one of the only ones who weren't asleep, instead she was reading a book, but she wasn't turning the pages, her eyes just scanned over the same sentence over and over, as if she was hoping the words would change before her very eyes.

"Yeah Philip what is it?" She replied.

"My mum's been married twice right?" He enquired pretending he didn't know the facts off by heart, Rachel nodded curiosity scrawled on her face, and "well she hasn't been divorced not even once…" He said squirming in his seat, regretting the last sentence almost instantly.

"I thought she was waiting for the divorce papers to come through?" She asked completely oblivious to Philip's pain that he had dealt with for the last few months.

"They never came through," Philip said.

"But that's illegal! Well abroad anyway, does Eddie know?" Rachel replied.

"I know, she could go to prison for this…" Philip said, blinking away tears, and pulling out a newspaper cutting which contained an article of a woman who had been married several times yet she had no divorce, his biggest worry was that, that person could just easily morph into his mother, "no, she hasn't told Eddie."

"But she told me that she had sorted it all out, or she was currently sorting it out anyway," Rachel said confused, finally realising that her sister had lied to her after all this time, the one person she had made sure was employed, the one person she trusted was the one person who now didn't seem so trustworthy. However as much as she wanted to blame the mess on her sister, regret was present in every syllable that she spoke since she knew that Philip confided her, yet she simply brushed it of like a piece of dirt when she heard Melissa's side of the story, which was pretty convincing. "What are we going to do now?" Rachel asked shrinking back to her sixteen-year-old self.

"I don't know," Phil said, "can you talk to mum?" He pleaded.

"Of course, if they get married well we can't expect Eddie to remain oblivious to everything can we?" Rachel said, feeling a sudden urge to do something.

The plane started to descend after the last word was speaking, breaking Phil's train of thought, as he concentrated on blowing his nose and making sure that his ears didn't pop, it wasn't a pleasant experience, and he sympathised with the baby that was screaming on the aisle directly adjacent to him.

As they landed with no major disasters, they experienced the dreaded feeling of almost losing their luggage, their suitcases were among the last to arrive, the odds were definitely weren't in their favour, and it was as if fate wanted to delay the upcoming conversation between the four.

"Are you kidding me?" A voice yelled, a very angry voice, "I met your mother, and all she says is that I'm not up to 'Richard's' standards? Who is Richard?"

"Eddie, please, Richard is my… ex-husband," a voice pleaded, Rachel and Philip looked at each other, it looked as if things were happening sooner than anticipated.

"I thought James was your ex-husband?" Said the first voice sounded seriously confused.

"Well, I married James when I was a teenage, after I was pregnant he left me… then I married Richard…" Melissa stammered nervously, it looked as if Eddie was on the verge of figuring the entire story out.

"How come I didn't know? We're getting married," Eddie said empathising on the 'married' bit, "I should know these things instead of looking like a gormless idiot in front of your mother!" Eddie said furiously.

"Eddie, it's not important…" Melissa started before she was once more cut off by a furious.

"Yes it is Mel! What if there are more secrets that I don't know about? A relationship that's based on lies is one that can never work…"

Rachel and Philip stepped forward, pretending that they hadn't heard any of the past conversation, "Mel! Eddie!" They called but the duo didn't seem to notice of the two new arrivals.

"Hi Rach, Philip," Melissa stated as she was the first one to react to the new arrivals.

"Why did you lie Melissa?" Eddie continued completely oblivious to Rachel and Philip.

"Eddie can we continue this conversation later?" Melissa pleaded.

"Why Melissa, why?" Eddie said, being honest was one of Eddie's main traits and he didn't understand why everyone else couldn't just be honest.

"Look I just wanted to forget about it alright?" Melissa replied, "It's not that big of a deal…"

"What if there are more secrets I don't know Melissa?" Eddie finished, finally acknowledging Rachel and Philip's presence and nodding in their direction.

"Is it last minute wedding nerves?" Rachel asked, smoothing the conversation which had far too many crumples, and although it was far easier to let Eddie work it out for himself, she knew that Melissa was in a tricky situation and she was struggling to recover.

"Uh, yeah," Melissa said nervously, "I don't think Eddie and mum got off on the right foot that's all," she said, Rachel's eyes darkened.

"Mom's here?" She asked her voice barely audible, Melissa nodded, "Mel, I need to talk to you…" She said slightly pulling Melissa away so that Philip and Eddie couldn't hear them; this was Philip's sign to involve Eddie in a conversation. "Mel, I was going to leave this till later, but it looks like Eddie is going to figure out anyway, but you need to tell him that you haven't been divorced, you could go to court, or prison for this," she said waving the newspaper in her hand.

"Rach, try to understand, it's not a past that I'm proud of, but what if I tell him? He'll leave me for sure," Melissa said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Mel, let me tell you something, when Eddie found out about my past he went ballistic, and he almost quit, and all we were, were friends, if he finds out then it's going to be much worse than when he figured out my past, because he's marrying you…"

Melissa sighed not knowing what to do, "Rach, I can't…" She said nervously, her voice breaking on the last word.

The next few days passed in a blur, and Rachel guessed that Melissa hadn't told Eddie the truth since he was acting like his old, oblivious self, she couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth, it wasn't his secret to tell, but if he did find out; she knew that she would be bought into the argument for being his friend and his sister in law. Wedding preparations seemed to take over everyone's mind, and Melissa was happy to lose herself in the mess of wedding preparations, it took her mind of the looming disaster.

The day of the wedding came, the groom was nervously waiting, everything was in place, the organ started to play, but the bride never made her great entrance, instead one of the bridesmaids rushed down the aisle carrying a small envelope, with one simple word written on the front; 'Eddie.'

Eddie's eyes scanned over the envelope for any sign of clues, had Melissa stood him up? Rachel and Philip looked at their shoes, had Melissa stood him up? "Uh, looks like there's been a slight delay…" He started, but he began to wonder if it was more than a delay.

He tore the envelope open, and although he would've liked to do in his own privacy he knew that the guests deserved to know what was going on.

_Dear Eddie, _

_ I don't know how to begin this, it's all a mess, and before you begin it's my mess, not our mess, or your mess, I was the one who created it and I'm going to be the one who ends it. It was your statement that you can't build a relationship based on lies that got me thinking, so okay… I'll just say it, look I've been married twice, each of those relationships ended in a disaster, and I don't like to talk about it, okay, any to cut a long story short, I didn't get a divorce for either of my previous marriages, they said terrible things would happen if… if I did divorce them, and Philip's safety was my number one priority, if I did divorce them I couldn't take the risk of putting Phillip in danger. _

_I love you Eddie Lawson, you made me forget all my worries, and you bought balance into my life. However right from the start I knew you were head over heels with someone else, I hope one day you'll realise who this someone else is, all I can say is that she deserves you, and I hope that you'll have the happy ending that I never achieved. _

_Without me, you can start a clean slate, while I sort this mess out, and I can at least try to get a divorce from Richard and James. Please ask Rachel to look after Philip, I need him somewhere where I know he will be safe, and I don't want to put his safety at risk, he deserves a stable and happy life, as do you. Please tell Philip and Rachel the true reason why I'm leaving, they deserve to know the truth, and I'm sorry for being such a coward and not telling you the truth sooner. _

_Goodbye, Melissa. _

Eddie finished reading the letter with mixed emotions, he looked at the faces of the guests who were starting to fidget due to the late delay, he stood up his fists clenched, "I'm sorry for wasting your time, but the wedding is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances," he said, and he watched with a dazed expression when the church emptied out.

Soon only Rachel, Philip remained with a very dazed looking Eddie, "well at least she told me the truth in the end…" He said before thrusting the letter in Philip's open hands. Philip's looked at the contents shocked, silently passing it to Rachel who copied his actions.

"Looks like she's been hiding more from us then any of us realised," Rachel stated, after scanning through the contents, "I guess this is goodbye from Melissa for now," she said, and the three looked up into the sky as they all silently echoed; "goodbye Melissa," wondering whether they would see Melissa again.

**A/N I quite like this, don't you agree? I wasn't sure how to make Eddie find out, at one point he was going to find out himself, but I decided not to :) and originally, I was going to have Rachel confront Melissa then Melissa who sees Rachel as a threat tells her to go home, which Rachel does, and then Eddie begins to suspect something. But I like this version better & I made up the majority of Mel's backstory :P And anyway let's pretend that Mel knew Eddie had feelings for Rachel right from the start :) **

**Oh! I hope to finish this fic by September, and then I'll post my new fic during late September/ early November (I don't have an exact date yet) Please review, you have no idea how much your reviews brighten up my day! It makes me feel happy 'cause someone appreciates my little what if's. Also if you want to favourite me as an author, then if you favourite me, I'll favourite you back! **

**Chalky is returning to Waterloo Road! What are your favourite Chalky moments? Remember the series 7 finale, and we were all like "Chalky's dead," and in the next series he's like "here I am!" I loved the Kevin & Chalky storyline, esp Chalk 'n' Cheese. **

**Remember to vote! On my poll on my profile, because the one's with the most votes are the one's I'll do next!**


	11. What if Mika slept with Donte? 4x4

**What if Mika slept with Donte? 4x4**

Mika opened the door to the block of flats where her sister's apartment was situated, sighing as she smoothed down her wet hair, feeling the extra weight drag on as she climbed the stairs to as she reached the apartment door. It was a relief to be surrounded by familiar objects, and she picked up the book she had left unfinished the night before. She opened the first book, as she remained curled up on the sofa with a cup of hot chocolate in her hand.

Mika sighed as she tried to concentrate on the book she was reading, it was a romance story where the main character fell for her sister's boyfriend, those books were incredibly popular but they were a bit too cliché for Mika's liking. How could she stop the metaphoric fireworks when Donte entered the room? Donte, was Chlo's; her sister's boyfriend, not hers, anyway she already had a boyfriend who was willing to help tutor her sister with her French.

Once upon a time when she was younger, she fell in love with the dopey boy who lived in his own world, she still remembered how Donte would walk around the school in year 7 with a lost expression on his face, he got teased and people called him the 'lost boy.' Mika prided herself on being the one who bought Donte to the real world, even though Chlo would beg to differ saying he still thought life was just a game, she taught him to stand up for himself instead of letting the bullies walk all over him. It was when he added that air of self-confidence to the dopey, clueless boy that she began to let herself fall for him…

The doorbell rang, and Mika answered it before hugging Brett who was only here because of her pleas, they sat on the leather sofas whilst waiting for Chlo to make the drinks, no-one was sure where Donte was, but one thing was sure he didn't stay in one place for long, so who knew where he was…

"Yeah, thanks for offering to help me Brett," Chlo was saying but Mika was barely paying attention, as she remained completely oblivious to her surroundings.

"As I said before, it's fine, don't mention it," Brett replied in an irritable way instead of gracefully accepting the 'thank you.'

"No, seriously, it's really nice of you helping someone as hopeless as me…" Chlo gushed genuinely happy that she didn't have to have extra lessons with Ms Haydock.

"Why did you take French as an A-level if you're so hopeless then?" Brett said.

Mika gasped, why did he just say that? They could barely have a decent conversation with each other without converting it into a full blown argument; however would they manage two hours of French tutoring every night?

"Well you know Waterloo Road doesn't give us many options for our A-levels…" Chlo said, her mood quickly deflating, "so shall we get started?" She said before heading into the kitchen, "and Mika you won't have to play peacemaker, don't worry," she said trying to re-assure her sister that she wouldn't have to take the two to hospital at the end of the evening.

Mika sat on the sofa, carefully inspecting her nails, at first all she could hear were the raised voices that belonged to Chlo and Brett, but soon all she could hear was the sound of Chlo's brain ticking, and Brett's patient voice, maybe this was an experiment that would eventually pay off…

She looked at her watch, to her surprise only fifteen minutes had passed, by the end of the fifteenth minute she had read all of Chlo's magazines, and she was scouring the room in search of something new to read. Her discarded book didn't look like a favourable option at the minute, since she knew that the heroine of the book would never be her, she would never fall for her sister's boyfriend, as everyone said it was mates before dates.

"Chlo?" A voice asked drowsily, Mika recognised the voice instantly.

"Donte?" She asked nervously, hoping that she would be proved right.

"Look babe I'm sorry, it was only a couple of drinks that's all," Donte mumbled, convincing himself that he was talking to Chlo, Mika would say one thing to Chlo and that was she had Donte trained well…

"Donte, it's not Chlo, it's Mika," Mika corrected, after a moment of wondering whether she should pretend to be Chlo and soothe Donte's conscious.

"Mika?" He said, testing the new word on his tongue, "you're not Mika, Mika's hot," Donte said, and Mika's heart skipped a beat, before smoothing down her wet hair, the wet hair look didn't work on anyone one and she was no exception to the rule.

"Excuse me?" Mika questioned, at his frank statement, "we can't look like supermodels at every point of the day," she said sharply catching his attention.

"Well I think you've master the wet dog look, it's mint," Donte continued only semi-aware of what he was saying, "so where's Chlo?" He said his eyes darting first towards the bedroom and then to the kitchen.

"She's doing French with Brett, but don't go in there she'll go ballistic," Mika said stretching her hand across the kitchen door, preventing him from going in there, he gently began to move her arm, and eccentric tingles ran up her arm, however hard she tried to control the sensation it was uncontrollable.

"Look I'll get you some water okay?" She said, gently pushing his hand down so that she could enter the kitchen, without Chlo and Brett seeing the very ragged looking Donte. She poured the water with a lame excuse to go with it, but Chlo and Brett barely noticed her, they looked like they were making good progress judging by the intense expression that replaced Chlo's normal carefree expression.

"Here you go Donte," she said quickly shoving the water in his hand, but instead managing to spill the water on his trousers, "oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry," she said apologetically as Donte's face hardened, she dabbed her hands on Donte's trousers as she tried her best to clean it up, with the few remaining tissues in the tissue box.

"It's alright; I'm going to go to bed…" Donte said, rubbing his head thoughtfully, "Mika…" He said, and then he leaned into kiss her, his lips softly brushed against hers, and electric sparks flew through the air, this was the moment she had dreamt about for years… She couldn't believe it was finally happening, but it didn't feel real… It was something way beyond what her imagination could conjure.

Donte nervously gestured towards the kitchen door that could fly open at any moment, and he quietly grabbed Mika's hand so hard it was bound to leave a mark, before gently pushing her towards the direction of the bedroom.

Mika was only half conscious of what she was doing, whilst Donte would wake up tomorrow with no recollection of what happened last night, what harm could one night do?

"Wait," she whispered under her breath as she gathered her thoughts, what was she doing? How could she do this to Chlo? Did she have to choose between the man of her dreams and her sister?

Donte leaned in to kiss Mika softly once more, and she lost herself; she wasn't just Mika Grainger anymore, she was the new and improved Mika Grainger the one who fell in love with a dopey thirteen year old almost four years ago… She lost herself in his gaze, and it was like falling into a bed of clouds, he made a small attempt to deepen the kiss, but then she remembered that he was drunk… Tomorrow this night would mean nothing to him. And tonight could only end in two ways either; it could end with the burning desire in her heart being fulfilled or it could end with a regret that could affect their romances with Chlo and Brett. And she wasn't willing to take that chance.

"Donte please, you can't do this- we can't do this, please just forget that this ever happened okay?" Mika whispered, the problem wasn't Donte forgetting since tomorrow it would all be a blissful blur to him, the problem was this memory would remain with her unsettled for the rest of her life.

"Mika…?" Donte said in a childlike manner, but his thoughts drizzled away as he rested his head on Mika's lap, Mika tried to wriggle desperately, but instead she ran her fingers through his soft hair trying to comfort him, as he settled into a slight daze. "Stay with me," he said as he motioned towards the other side of the bed, gesturing for Mika to lie on the other side.

Mika shook her head, debating what to do, but Donte's puppy-dog eyes were almost to much to bear. Soon he leaned in and kissed her, she responded and he must've been somewhat expecting this as it took only a few moments before the kiss deepened, his tongue exploring her mouth looking for new places to discover. An hour of blissful happiness passed, yet it only felt like a few moments before Donte fell into an erratic daze, Mika lay on the other side of the bed wide awake with her conscious well aware of her mistake.

Several minutes passed and Mika wasn't sure what to do, she was still fully aware of the position she was in, and although it wasn't that bad she knew that Chlo would be reluctant to see things from her point of view, in her eyes it would be her sister making out with her husband, and unlike fictional characters Chlo was unlikely to forgive and forget.

"Donte," Mika said slightly pulling him off her lap, he groaned slightly before hugging the duvet for comfort, she silently walked out of the door turning the handle inch by inch careful not to make a sound. Brett and Chlo were still in the kitchen, having a what Mika thought was a very animated chatter about French verbs. Mika smiled despite herself, how could anyone have an animated discussion about French verbs? Her smile quickly faded knowing that if either of them found out what had just happened she would be saying goodbye to the people she loved the most.

It was only then that she finally put the last puzzle into place, Donte was a silly, childhood crush she may have felt sparks fly whenever he was by, but at the end of the day sparks meant nothing, who says that you only get sparks flying with one person? Sure, she didn't have sparks flying with Brett, but she had fireworks exploding which seemed even better. Even if Donte mysteriously dumped Chlo, that didn't mean Mika could date him at any rate, as they say in books its mates before dates, and she definitely considered Chlo a mate and not just any old sister.

She walked home with silence, tomorrow would mean nothing to Donte, and tonight would be the night where she ripped Donte away from that keepsake place in her heart, that place instead would be replaced by Brett, who she now realised loved her more than anything, she was lucky to have it, only she hadn't realised it before. Her eyes were rimmed with tears, her feelings for Donte had blinded her feelings for Brett, and how could she have been so stupid? Donte had and always would see her as a friend, and just a friend.

"Hi sweetie, you okay?" Tom said genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine Tom," Mika said, "I just realised sometimes we are so busy looking for our fairy-tale ending we don't realise when it's staring at us right in the face…" She finished, hugging Tom, feeling safe once more, tomorrow would bring a day full of surprises, and if Donte did remember then she would set him straight and tell him about her new found feelings for him. She couldn't bear to break the hearts of Chlo and Brett, if she lost them she couldn't even begin to imagine what life would be like…

Her fairy-tale ending may not be like the one in the books, but you just don't go looking for fairy-tale endings, they find you, all you have to do is wait…

**A/N This chapter is alright, I think I was pretty much making this up from the spot, and I was trying to think of ways for Donte to kiss Mika, since I don't think he'd ever cheat on Chlo (mind you I never thought Chlo would cheat on him) What did you think about this chapter? Please tell me your thoughts! Also 30 reviews is amazing thank you! There have been 987 views on this story! Lets make it a 1,000! **

**Dedicated to CBurns1995 for all the reviews, and for being the no. 1 supporter of this story :D she suggested this idea ages ago, but I kept forgetting... **

_**Also please vote on the poll, on my page; what one-shot would you like me to do next? Will it be about Tom/Izzie Chlo/Donte Maxine/Lewis Rachel/Eddie or someone totally different, you decide!**_

**Please review! It seriously makes my day :) and it inspires me to write more, so the more reviews I get the more likely that a) the next upload is longer b) I'll update tomorrow :D So please review! **

**Next question: What do you think should happen in series 9? **


	12. What if the baby wasn't Eddie's? 4x20

**What if Melissa lied about the baby being Eddie's? 4x20**

Melissa entered the doors of Waterloo Road, almost two terms had passed since she first left, and her original plan was to use those two terms to get herself back on her feet, however only a week after her departure and her plans were already starting to fall to pieces.

She still remembered that dreaded day, when the pregnancy test marked 'positive,' at first it seemed obvious that the father was Eddie, but it was only until she let her thoughts delve deeper that she began to suspect that although Eddie was the obvious suspect it didn't necessarily mean that it was his child.

_*5 Months ago* _

_"Well, I'm not the one who's not being honest, you have been lying right from the start," Melissa said furiously, as she ignored her conscious that had finally caught up with her deceit, "you love Rachel don't you?" She asked even though she knew the answer, "so now you have to choose it's me or her," she said her voice shaking after every syllable. _

_The worst thing was the looks she received from Rachel and Eddie, the looks that made her instantly regret her rash words, Rachel's face had fallen, although she looked surprised at Melissa's outburst, she was disappointed yet disbelief was clearly imprinted on Eddie's face. Rachel ran from the scene, as she saw her sister's true colours finally revealed, but a part of her was determined to believe that it wasn't actually Melissa speaking but a Melissa who was under the influence of something… or someone. _

_Eddie didn't say anything, silence dominated the two, just this morning, they were searching for that happy ending, yet it only took a few moments to destroy a potential happy ending. He didn't need to reply to her statement, his eyes which were flickering towards the door gave the answer away. _

_He left, and quickened his pace, hoping to catch up with Rachel. Melissa stood alone, and flung the wedding ring across the room, as she slumped against the wall, trying to pick up the broken pieces even though there was no-one to guide her. _

_It was only then, that she began to question everything, especially her relationship with Eddie and Rachel. She had just as well as admitted to Eddie that she knew that he loved Rachel, so why had she fallen for Eddie when she knew he would never return her feelings?_

_"You cannot choose for whom you fall for," a small voice echoed in her brain, yet she knew all along that if Rachel wasn't so stubborn they would've dated before now and probably before she was employed. She wanted her sister to be happy; the one who had always guided her when she was lost, yet it was only now that she was realising how little she knew about her sister, did her sister ever have feelings for Eddie? _

_She loved being with Eddie, every week she spent with him felt like a single second, but a day without him was like a year without rain. She felt safe and secure with him, something she had never felt since she was a child with her big sister looking after her, he was like the big brother she never had, and he helped forget the mistakes that she had made in the past. Right from the start, she pinned him down as the dedicated type, someone who would always put his family first, and he was so kind to Philip who was going through a rough stage, perhaps these were the traits Melisa had fallen in love with… _

_Quickly she scribbled a letter to Rachel, apologizing for bringing her into the argument, saying that Philip would stay with her due to unforeseen circumstances whilst she sorted out her life, she regretted leaving him but he would only slow her done, but there were things she needed to do, people she wanted to meet. _

_It was a very fortunate thing indeed that when she went to the car park, neither Eddie nor Rachel were around, Philip would probably never forgive her for leaving him, but she couldn't just drag him around like a lost puppy, in just a few short months he would be sitting his GCSEs and if they moved it would either make or break him. _

_She went to the pub, instead of opting to find some shelter, sadness and worry had taken over her current state of mind, she had finally lost that single ounce of happiness that had been injected into her life, Philip was all she had left now… _

_"Mel, the usual?" The bartender said, recognising her after a second glance. _

_"Yes please, long day at work…" She said sighing dramatically._

_"Tell me about it, you work at Waterloo Road don't you?" Another voice chipped him, Melissa didn't recognise him, and he had brown hair that floated in a simple wave. _

_"Yeah I do and you are?" Melissa said suspiciously. _

_"I'm Michael I've just finished training to be a teacher, a Science teacher in fact, maybe one day I'll work at Waterloo Road myself!" Michael finished._

_"Well, I don't think I'll be working there very much longer," Melissa said._

_"Why not? You look pretty harmless to me; if I was head I'd do anything to avoid sacking a teacher…" Michael said, and Melissa took the 'pretty harmless' statement as a compliment. _

_"Yeah, Rach hates giving people the sack, but I've betrayed her trust…"_

_"Rach? Is that the head, you must be pretty close if you've betrayed her trust then," Michael said, looking confused at how casually Melissa was talking about her boss. _

_"Yeah, we are, well we were pretty close, we're sisters in fact, but I'm going out of town for a bit, I don't think the job suited me particularly well," Melissa informed Michael, finishing her glass and starting a new one. _

_"Well, looks like you've had a tough time, how about you come back to mine for a coffee?" Michael asked, and Melissa nodded relieved that she wouldn't have to return to the house where she would have to face an angry Eddie and a dismayed Philip. _

_"Sure," she said gracefully accepting whilst breaking her number one rule; never take someone's offer to go and have a coffee with them, but she would be lucky to find a decent hotel at this time of night and Michael seemed nice enough, but she knew all too well that looks could be deceiving. _

_She settled down on the couch of Michael's apartment, it was quite a cosy apartment, and she sipped her coffee silently, even though she was still dizzy from her several drinks earlier and it looked like Michael was showing similar symptoms. She didn't know what had come over her, but she leaned in and kissed him, his lips softly brushed against hers, and after just seconds the kissed began to deepen as the tension grew. She paused gasping for breath, and the morning after she had no recollection of what happened the previous night._

_"Michael, Michael!" She said, slowly trying to wake him out without pushing him off the sofa, he was drowsily opening his eyes, only half awake, his mouth formed a 'o' shape, full of surprise and she could tell that he was struggling to remember her._

_"My head…" He said before darting into the bathroom and throwing up, Melissa shoved some tablets into his hand and passed them with a glass of water. _

_"Michael, I need to go now!" She said, before grabbing her coat, and leaving her as fast as her legs would carry her, immediately regretting last night, Michael may have made Eddie seem like a faze for a few hours, but after only several hours it now felt like Michael was the one she was struggling to picture and not Eddie. _

_"Melissa?" A voice asked, a voice that belonged to one of the three people that she was dreading to encounter, she turned around for a split second and saw Rachel climbing into her car with a bemused expression on her face. She wanted to say 'hi' and tell her regrets about Yesterday, but she couldn't bear to look at her sister without seeing the hurt in her eyes, the hurt that she had caused. _

_The next few weeks passed in the blur, it was hard to find a job with no reference from her previous boss, and if the circumstances had been different, Rachel would've happily given her a reference, but she had betrayed her, as well as breaking the heart of her most loyal deputy. However she did get a job, it wasn't a good one, and you could barely compare it to Waterloo Road, but she was grateful. _

_"Hi, that'll be £68.95 please," she said tapping the numbers into the cashier, it wasn't the most glamorous job, but it was beginning to help her get back on her feet. _

_"Melissa is that you?" A voice said, an all too familiar voice, for a dreaded moment Melissa wondered if it was either a pupil or a member of staff, luckily it wasn't which was a blessed relief, but she wasn't all too happy about this reunion either… _

_"Yes it is me, Richard…" She said, angrily staring into the eyes of her ex-husband, who had caused her so much pain. He was the reason why she was so desperate to feel so safe, he had made her life anything but safe, she was old enough to handle him, but when he began to take his anger out of Philip that was when she had the courage to leave him, and start a new life. "Can we talk after my shift please?" She said handing him the correct change. _

_"Yes, got yourself a new feller eh?" He said trying hard to predict her thoughts._

_"No, and it's none of your business," Melissa replied._

_"Well you're looking a bit more put together since I last saw you, plus you're a bit rounder too…" Richard said his comments shivering down her spine like a snake on the prowl for its prey. His last comment alarmed Melissa was she subconsciously getting bigger? She had last weighed herself only a few weeks ago, and she had definitely started eating left since the disaster, so how could she be gaining weight? "But I'm just very observant," Richard said, grinning he knew he had struck a delicate chord in Melissa's heart, and he wasn't going to give up so easily… _

_"Richard, there's a queue behind you, why don't we just leave it until later?" Melissa said coolly sending him death glares under her cool glare. _

_"Sure, but if you think you can just waltz in my life and expect me to do you a favour then you're wrong…" Richard said, before waltzing off with a bag of shopping in his hand and his smug smile still intact._

_The rest of her shift passed smoothly, with no big dramas as she came out of the shop, it was no big surprise to see Richard leaning against the bike racks just outside. "Before we go any further, I know what you want, and you can get it as long as you do me a favour…"_

_"So you're going to blackmail me?" Melissa said._

_"Oh, no I like to think of it as an imaginative way of getting my own way," Richard said softly his words rammed down at the back of Mel's throat as she struggled to digest them, "but don't forget I know the secrets that you're afraid to tell the world, but I'll only keep my mouth zipped, if you do me one little favour," he said miming zipping his mouth shut. _

_"Well firstly I need £5,000 and yes I don't care how I get it as long as I get it, you have five months to deliver the money, and secondly I want you to arrange for your sister to go out with me, yet I don't want her to know about the deal okay?" Richard said checkmating Melissa's pawn, as she struggled to come to a decision. _

_ "Is there any offers that you'd like to negotiate with?" Melissa said her voice no louder than a mouse-squeak, it wasn't a bad deal but why would Rachel would date her ex-husband? Rachel would never do that in fear of betraying her sister, even though she knew that her sister didn't 'love' him anymore. Was that the only reason Richard married her? To date Rachel? The answer sounded logically, but she could remember being young and feeling sparks fly whenever she kissed him, did that feeling mean nothing to him? She had caused Rachel enough pain in the last time to last her a lifetime, and maybe now was the time to stop interfering with her sister's life. _

_"No," Richard said, "but I may be willing to reconsider…" He said, "if…" he continued tauntingly, "if you give me the child that you are expecting since after all, one small mistake and it could be mine… Was the child planned or was it simply a mistake? Because if I'm not mistaken you look like you're on the run…" He finished before walking off into the sunset, leaving Melissa shaking her fist into the air as she yelled at his proposition. _

She looked back at her watch nervously, that was the most dreaded day of her life, she was here for one reason to inform Eddie, Rachel and Philip of her plans, then she would have the baby and she would let Eddie and Rachel bring up the child of her own, she was far too much of a risk, and she would simply but the child in danger.

She wasn't even sure if the baby was Eddie's, the baby could just as easily be Michael's, she would never know for sure, if Michael was the father, it would make no difference since she had none of his details, and she wasn't even sure what his surname was, Eddie would bring the child up under the impression that he was the father, but that couldn't be helped.

"Rachel," she called running through the building, she passed Eddie on the way but he was just a blur and she couldn't be sure that it was him, as he seemed to have aged considerably in the past few months. Her sister looked at her, with darkened eyes, which kept even the smallest shimmer of light hidden.

"Melissa, what are you doing here?" She was looking at her watch, with a small smile on her face and Melissa didn't even have to ponder who it was from, since the person who it was from may have written his name on the back it was so obvious, Eddie always did like to surprise her with little gifts, it was one of his many quirks.

"Rachel, I'm so sorry…" Melissa babbled aimlessly.

"You're pregnant," Rachel stated as her face remained blank.

"I am, but, but if Richard finds me he'll take the baby away…"

"Wait," Rachel's brow furrowed, "when did you last see Richard?"

"A few months ago, he tried to blackmail me, but I refused, now he's going to take the baby away," Melissa said as she broke down into tears, and settled down on the sofa with her sister doing her best to comfort her.

"Mel, why don't you go to the police?"

"I can't…" Melissa sobbed, the same thought had occurred to her just a few months ago, but although the idea seemed brilliant in theory, in action Richard assured her it wouldn't work, "Richard… has friends in the police, and his friends who are highly praised would convince everyone that I was lying."

"Oh, Mel what can I do?"

"That's where you, Eddie and Philip come in," Melissa said, "I want you to bring up the child as your own, whilst I try and sort this mess out, you and Eddie will make wonderful parents," she swallowed as she finally let herself admit the truth to herself, "and tell Philip and Eddie the truth about why I left, I don't want to put anyone in danger but myself," Melissa stated, and Rachel was shocked, Melissa was giving up everything… for nothing.

"But Mel, there has to be something we can do," Rachel pleaded.

"No, Rach this is the only way," Mel said sternly trying to avoid letting her sister think that there was another way, because although there could be another way it would only end up with one of the people closest to her getting caught, "there is one more thing though…"

"What is it?" Rachel asked as her sisters gaze fell to the floor as she looked somewhat ashamed.

"That night, where I broke up with Eddie, I made a stupid mistake, and I'm not entirely sure whether the baby's Eddie's," Melissa admitted truthfully, "but even if the baby isn't Eddie's I want Eddie to act like a father figure, so that the baby can have the best start in life." Melissa left after that, leaving Rachel to break the news to Philip and Eddie. She told the whole story to them, but she left the whole 'the baby might not be Eddie's' incident out, since she could tell by the sincerity in Melissa's voice that, that was just a silly mistake.

"So she got blackmailed?" Eddie said predictably, "why didn't she go to the police?"

"I told you," Rachel said annoyed that she had to repeat herself over and over, "Richard has some hold over the police."

"Do you mean, that's it? Richard wins end of story?" Eddie said, "We can't let him get away with this," he said swinging the door out and marching out of the building.

"Eddie please, Melissa's sacrificing herself for the chance of the baby's happiness, if we do something now then Richard will keep his eyes on her and then the baby will never be safe, that's the whole point of this to keep the baby away from Richard," Rachel finished trying to soothe Eddie, she wasn't happy about this either, but she had no other option but to go with Melissa's plans.

It was on December the 25th when Melissa's baby girl was born, she named her Hope, since if anything she was bringing hope into the world, hope that Philip would understand why his mother was leaving him, hope that Rachel and Eddie would one day get their fairy-tale ending, hope that one day she would be reunited with her baby girl.

**A/N I liked writing this :D It was probably not what you were expecting, but oh well, so in this fic 'Michael' is the father but Eddie, Rachel and Melissa aren't exactly sure :( I invented Richard, since I don't exactly know why he didn't divorce Mel so I had fun with that :P I didn't give Hope a surname, will it be Hope Lawson, Hope Ryan or Hope Lawson-Ryan or Hope Ryan-Lawson or maybe Hope Mason since Rachel is her adopted mum now XD Anyone recognise Michael? Yeah, I couldn't resist :) **

**I looked over at all the one shots;; and the what if Denzil shot Rachel is the most popular which had six reviews! Oh, and 1,094 reviews, simply fantastic! As well as 33 reviews! You make my day :D **

**Please review, since as mentioned previously it makes my day, did you like this one-shot what was your favourite part? Please at least say 'this is good' don't be a silent reader! Since I've made a promise to myself, that every story that I read on here I shall review, plus I love reading new stories, so if you review I may read & review your story! And if you review twice I'll give you a shout out & you can choose which what if I do next! :D **


	13. What if Philip wrote the lyrics? 4x20

**What if Philip helped Flick write the lyrics? 4x20**

**Disclaimer; As funny as it seems, no I don't own Waterloo Road if I did it would be totally different ;) **

Philip was happily whistling to himself, as he hummed a simple melodic tune, as he passed the library, he only glanced in there for a second; it was only by chance that he spotted Flick. He stood frozen for a moment; a moment to long as some might say, their eyes connected but Flick looked away with a horrified expression on her face.

"Creep," she muttered under her breath, as she looked down, trying to loose herself in the music, her stress had reached a new high point, as she struggled to think of a suitable song, the wastepaper basket was over flowing, contained with tons of discarded ideas, ideas that she knew the others would never be let her live down.

"Uh, have you got the book I ordered last week?" Philip nervously enquired, knowing Flick would jump to the conclusion that he was stalking him; it wasn't his fault that he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The librarian handed him the book, he tore open the first page with great care, this was the book he had been waiting to read for the past few hands, and now the fate of the book was in his hands.

"I've read that book," Flick said, shyly darting a glance at the book, although he didn't know it she was the one who had borrowed the book before him, and you could still see her loopy handwriting on the first page of the book.

"You have?" He said, looking at the cover, "I can't wait to read it, I was going to go to the signing, but then… Well I never went, due to unforeseen circumstances," he said, nervously trying to tell the truth yet not wanting to give too much away, he was supposed to go to the book signing with his mother, she had promised, but that was before she ran away from her own mistakes.

"Oh," was all Flick had to say in response to Philip's statement, "Oblivion is amazing, it really shows you how all the character's- especially Matt, have grown since the first book!" She said, letting her awkwardness with Philip fall at ease, as she slowly began to forget their several misunderstandings.

"Yes, you're right, it's amazing, I'd love for it to be made into a film, but I don't want to be disappointed," Philip said, "moviemakers always seem to miss out crucial bits, remember the scene in Harry Potter where Neville visits his parents in hospital? I was really upset when that wasn't in the film…" He said.

Flick nodded eagerly, "you're right! That scene in the book bought a tear to my eye, and it definitely tells you more about Neville…"

"Well I'd better get on with reading this, and I don't want to interrupt you from your work…" Philip said looking at the bin of discarded notes.

"Yeah, I'd better, but the problem is I suck at writing lyrics, wait scratch that I royally suck," Flick said honestly, burying her head in her notebook.

"Writing lyrics is easy," chimed in Philip with a genuine smile on his face, "look I'll help you, you just want to keep it upbeat, every heard of the Friends theme tune?" He asked.

"Yeah," Flick replied before starting to sing the lyrics, "nobody told your life was gonna be this way… " She stopped after she hit the second line, "so you're suggesting I do something like that?" Philip nodded, "I can barely write a nursery rhyme…"

"Yeah well I'm going to help you," said Philip pulling out a notebook, "I don't know where to begin…?"

"I don't know where to begin either; I thought you were the expert song writer?" Flick said irritably.

"Well I'm not the one who threw themselves in the deep end…" Philip argued, "That's it!" he said as he quickly typed a search in Google images, as he searched for 'happy quotes,' "laughter is cheaper than medicine…" He said smiling.

"Well it is, but if laughing is a medicine why do people die laughing?" Flick asked but Philip was quickly scribbling down a few sentences.

"When I'm sad,

I try to laugh,

'Cause laughter is absolutely free," he read, nervously looking for Flick's response, "does that work?" He asked tapping his fingers on the desk nervously, Flick sang the lyrics, and smiled.

Flick continued to scroll through the images of happy quotes, "how about his?" She read, "being happy, doesn't mean everything's perfect it means looking beyond the imperfection," she finished before deciding to change the sentence into a lyric:

"Being happy,

Doesn't mean that everything is perfect,

It means taking a life,

And looking beyond the imperfections."

She stopped for a moment, pleased that she had managed to twist a simple quote into a song lyric, that people would view as decent at least, she eagerly awaited Philip's response, he smiled in return.

"That's great Flick!" He said enthusiastically, as he scribbled down the next few verses of their happy, upbeat song, which was now coming along great thanks to his dedication and support. The book lay forgotten, as Philip devoted himself to helping Flick, every now and again a new quote would inspire them and they would find a way to insert the quote into the song. They sat back, as they quickly sang through their progress quietly, avoiding the librarians hard stare, they hi-fived each other once more, before Flick quickly went to the choir room, which contained her teacher who looked like he was on the verge of tears, his carefully laid plan was now falling apart bit by bit.

"Mr Wilding, I have the lyrics!" Flick said waving the sheet in the air, Matt ran his eyes over the lyrics quickly as he passed the over to Marley so that he could get on with making sure that the music fitted in with the lyrics.

"Good job Flick, the lyrics are happy and upbeat," he said, softly singing the tune so that the other members could familiarise themselves with the tune before they received their own copy of the lyrics, Sam and Lauren gave each other Cheshire cat smiles, as they secretly hi-fived themselves, happy that their hard work and dedication wasn't going to waste.

Philip strolled in late as usual, his hands fell into his pockets, and he received a glare from Mr Wilding, who was looking at his watch in a very irritated manner. "Philip Ryan, if you want to be in this choir, you have to show dedication, and by coming in ten minutes late, it shows that you have little or no dedication to this choir," Matt finished. Philip wrung his hands together annoyed, as Flick looked away, if only Matt knew what Philip had been doing for the past hour, yet as always he was sent to the back of the choir as he struggled to see beyond the girl's eccentric hair.

The run through of the song without the music, went pretty well, and Philip couldn't help but feel a surge of pride that it was his song that he helped write that they were singing, although his mood dipped when he realised that Flick had taken credit for all his hard work. The practise ended with everyone patting Flick on the back, and echoes of 'well done' could be heard, as usual Philip was forgotten lost in the midst of students.

"Flick, thank you for writing those lyrics, they were amazing…" Mr Wilding gushed, "You've really helped save the choir," he said oblivious to the glares Philip was sending him, but Flick could feel Philip's penetrating glare sliding past her, and she instantly regretted not telling Mr Wilding the truth.

"Mr Wilding," she said slowly, "it wasn't me who wrote the lyrics, well I did help, but it was Philip who wrote the majority of the lyrics…" She said, and Marley uttered some annoyed words under his breath.

"That creep," he said, his voice iced with venom.

"Marley," Flick said annoyed, that he had just insulted the person who had metaphorically saved the choir, "look if it wasn't for Philip, there would be no song, because quite frankly my lyrics suck okay? I tried protesting right from the start but you wouldn't listen," she said.

"Well this changes things, I suppose that's why he was late wasn't it?" Mr Wilding asked, "Why didn't you say right from the start Flick?" He said, before darting down the corridor in a sudden dash to find Philip but Philip was nowhere to be seen. He then dashed off to Rachel's office, so he could tell her the great news, and it would perhaps reduce her worrying since she was worrying far too much about Philip.

As he barged through the door, he caught Rachel and Eddie only centimetres apart, when they saw his presence they both blushed furiously, caught off guard like two deer's caught in the headlights. "Uh, I'm sorry," he said gracefully, slowly stepping outside the room, slowly trying to grasp hold of what he had just discovered, had he almost caught his boss and her deputy kissing? Was this opposite day, since he seemed to be discovering that there two sides of every story…

"Matt," Rachel said, recovering slowly from the kiss that missed incident, "what can I do for you? You certainly seem to be in a rush," she stated slowly sitting down sipping her cup of tea, as Eddie shuffled from side to side nervously.

"It's Philip," Matt said.

"What has he done now?" Eddie demanded, "after all we've done for him-" He said, almost storming out of the office in search for Philip.

"No, no, he hasn't done anything wrong," Matt quickly babbled before Eddie had a chance to leave, "it's just I think this choir thing is really working out for him," he continued, "You see he helped Flick Mellor write the lyrics!" Matt exclaimed happily. The two being Eddie and Rachel exchanged glances, knowing that Philip's history with Flick wasn't exactly one to be proud of.

"Really Flick Mellor?" Rachel said narrowing her eyes for a few moments before smiling happily, "that's great! I'm glad that they've overcome their differences, I can't wait to see the show," she said genuinely, before Matt excused himself, and he had to strain himself from jumping around and improvising a dance routine in the corridor, it seemed like everything was working out, after all it would be such a waste for all the hard work to go to nothing.

"Well I wasn't expecting that," Eddie announced after Matt's departure.

"I know!" Rachel said giddy with excitement, "it's so great that he has something to look forward too, after all that's happened," she said before almost leaping around the office in excitement glad that her nephew had found something he could happily loose himself into, this was just another way to numb the sadness that had taken over his life.

The days passed in a blur, and all days seemed to roll into one, there was only one day that was separated from the rest, today was the day, today was Philip's chance to help make his school proud, the day he had anticipated with excited nerves was finally here. But whatever happened, Waterloo Road was going to give the show choir competition something they would never be able to forget.

"Good morning," Rachel greeted, and Philip eagerly shoved some cereal in his mouth, although he wasn't sure whether his nerves would let him keep them down, "excited?" She said reading his thoughts, Philip eagerly nodded, before walking to school since Matt had requested that all members to come early for the jam-packed day he had planned.

A quick run through was all it took, and small smiles were exchanged, it was then Matt decided to drop the bombshell, "good luck, and I want you all to know that Philip wrote a lot of the lyrics with help from Flick," he said, and some of the members began to exchange small smiles at Philip, it was nice to feel appreciated for once.

He walked with the rest of the choir to the bus, he had happily engrossed himself with a conversation between Sam and Lauren, and although the two were two years younger than him, he was surprised at how much they seemed to like his lyrics, and the conversation went smoothly when they discovered other things they had in common.

"Mom?" Philip asked, as he recognised a small departing figure, the figure turned around and that was when another bombshell dropped, "you're pregnant?" He said as he looked down at her tummy, his eyebrows furrowed.

Sam and Lauren continued giggling hand in hand, "you coming Philip?" They said, looking for their new-found friend with his hidden talents.

"In a minute," Philip replied brushing them off, and staring at his mom who had disappeared without a trace five months ago, how could she abandon him like that? By this time Matt had finished locking up, and he was carrying a box full of essentials to the bus, in his rush to get to the bus in time he almost knocked Philip over.

"Philip we'd better get going," he said, before noticing Melissa, "Melissa are you coming to the performance later?" He said noting the new arrival and successfully masking the surprise that was inked on his face, quickly he steered Philip away from his mother and to the direction on the bus, normally he wouldn't mind a simple heart-to-heart, but the problem was it wasn't likely to be that simply and he needed every member of the choir's full concentration.

"You okay mate?" He asked Philip after Melissa was out of sight, Philip only gave a slight nod in reply, "I'm sure she'll come to the performance," he said doing his best to comfort her, although it seemed clear that this wasn't what was on Philip's mind.

When they arrived at the hall where the show choir competition was being held, the only signs of life were the heavy breathing that showed that everyone was nervous, everyone was a bundle of nerves and tensions were running high.

"Hey Philip," Sam said, pulling him over so that no-one else could over hear the conversation, "I have an idea," she said slowly explaining the idea, "you in?" she said, Philip nodded in awe of her good idea. They waited in the green room, nervously as the room morphed into a mix of excitement of nerves, soon Rachel was introducing their act, and just moments after they were being pushed onto the stage.

Once he was up their all his nerves simply frazzled away, he felt like he was in a dream, all his dreams were finally coming true, fairy-tales didn't exist, but this moment certainly felt like one. He stood alongside Sam and Lauren, who were singing with thousand-watt smiles perched on their faces, and he was sure that his facial expression matched theirs.

"Wow, this is brilliant," Rachel marvelled after hearing the song for the first time, and she was very proud to say that it was her nephew that had wrote the song, Kim agreed with her, but she was already lost in the music and the only thing that awoke her from her sudden spurt of happiness was the sound of the phone ringing. She got up to answer it, annoyed that the caller had the worst timing possible, as she went out the exit, she was very pleased yet surprised to see her sister in the doorway looking in awe at the choir that stood in the centre of the stage.

The caller Ralph Mellor and all it took was the name to send Rachel into a frenzy, the man was mad, simply insane and worst of all he was a threat to everyone at Waterloo Road. Who knew what crime he had committed now? But if she didn't stop him, he would get away with it once more, he was threatening to knock the school down, but she couldn't leave now during Philip's big debut as a songwriter…

She quickly rang Eddie, and warned him, as far as she knew he was the only one in the school building, she pleaded for him to delay Ralph as long as possible since she knew that she couldn't leave now, since it would be like turning her back on the choir and Philip and she couldn't bear to have all her hard work that she had put towards Philip crash down all around her…

Melissa was standing by the doorway, and she looked very happy and relieved that Philip was happy, since as the old saying goes all she needed to be happy was for her friends and family to be happy: "Rachel well done, he looks really happy up there, I haven't seen him smile like that in ages," Melissa finished genuinely.

"Thank you Mel, he also helped write the song, you should be proud of him, I know I am," Rachel said smiling before going back to her seat. The song finished, and the choir took a bow, she was clapping until her hands were sore, but still two members of the choir remained.

"Hi, I am Sambuca Kelly and this is Philip Ryan," Sam said gesturing towards Philip, "first of all I'd like to say, that although my journey at Waterloo Road hasn't been a peaceful one, we have the best teachers in the world, especially Mr Wilding who adopted me, if it wasn't for him we wouldn't even be here today, Waterloo Road changed my life," she said before quickly passing the microphone to Philip who seemed self-conscious in front of the audience with a speech that he had prepared only moments before.

"As you already know I'm Philip Ryan, just want to say thank you to all the staff at Waterloo Road, I never thought I'd be standing here, Yesterday it was just a distant dream but today it's real, I've made great friends at Waterloo Road," he paused for a moment and smiled and Sam, "even though making friends has never come easy to me before." He finished before passing the microphone to Sam who was ready to take over.

"Yeah, Philip hasn't had the easiest time here, neither have I, but those lyrics you just heard? Philip wrote them, he proved everyone wrong when everyone was accusing him of things he didn't do, but above all thank you to Mr Wilding for organising this whole choir!" She said, before Matt had to forcefully drag her off the stage and Philip followed them looking down and avoiding eye contact with the audience.

"What were you two thinking?" Matt demanded, and Sam just shrugged as if it was no big deal, whilst Philip went to strike up a conversation with Lauren, clearly Matt saw Sam as the organiser of this scheme, thus this was why he was interrogating her first.

"Phil," A voice said nervously, "I just wanted to say I'm sorry," she continued, and Philip locked eyes with Flick, the one he had fallen so desperately in love with once upon a time.

"It's okay, I'm sorry too," he said knowing that next time when he had a crush on a girl he would just follow his heart, "shall we start on a clean slate?" He asked and then he shook hands with Flick as she whispered on single solitary word, "deal."

Rachel was quite eager to hear the results, but she knew that she couldn't delay saving the school any longer, Eddie's delay tactics would only work for so long, she hopped in the taxi and prayed that she wasn't too late to help save the school.

"Mr Mellor," She yelled and that was the last thing she heard before Eddie shoved her out of the way, before he took control of the vehicle that Ralph had undoubtedly borrowed without permission, and shut down the systems and took the key so the vehicle was useless, well as long as the key was in Eddie's possession that is.

Philip was on cloud nine, and he happily hugged Sam and Lauren discussing the recent events that had occurred, before he thought that there was a one in a million chance of winning, but winning looked like it might be on the agenda…

"And in first place Waterloo Road!" The voice cried, just as Eddie and Rachel ran through the doors with impeccable timing as ever, radiant smiles appeared on everyone's face as everyone rushed to hug each other, this time Philip wasn't forgotten as he was the key to Waterloo Road success.

**A/N I was going to do a Philip and Melissa scene but I couldn't think of what would happen :/ I've just noticed that the past five or so one-shots are based on series four, LOL :D I liked this and I'm sorry if you're a lyric-writing genius and you didn't think the lyrics were very good, 'cause I'm rubbish at writing lyrics...**

**Please read & review, reviews make me happy :D So don't forget to review (even if it's just a one liner) remember if you review twice; you get a dedication and you get to decide what one shot I do next, so review, review and review!** **Question time; What is your favourite what if so far & what is your most memorable episode? *****Remember to vote on my poll so you have a chance to decide what I do next* **

**Dedicated to; Sarahabc0598 go and check out her story! **


	14. What if Maxine's baby survived? 3x9

**What if Maxine & Lewis' baby survived? 3x9**

Maxine groaned in pain as she stumbled across the fields of Waterloo Road, the pain was almost unbearable and she could barely manage to stumble let alone work, if only she could find Janeece or Stacey then she could collapse and rest, but that wasn't on the agenda until the baby was born…

She was very near to collapsing under her own weight, and she wondered how long she could continue her immense struggle, surely it was too early, she had two weeks to go at the very least… There were no black dots leaving Waterloo Road, and she had just enough energy to look at her watch without toppling over from the nausea that was rising in her stomach. The big hand was pointing directly on the twelve whereas the little hand was wavering on the four, it was too late, everyone would have evacuated from the building just over half-an-hour ago, Max's plan fell to pieces crashing down around her, the building was completely empty and with that the last of her hope vanished into thin air.

However there was one solitary figure standing outside the entrance of Waterloo Road, a tough day at work barely began to cover it she thought to herself, Jack had left early to arrange a surprise for Davina, and it reality it was almost as if she was the one who made his days' worth living. So the job of locking up had been passed down to Kim, who had volunteered to stay behind to do some marking anyway, everyone was eager to start their half-term, and even the teachers enjoyed the escapism of staying at home and relaxing. This was among one of the many highlights of being a teacher; you received plenty of holidays. Normally locking up duty would be passed onto Andrew who was Jack's deputy and second-in-command but thanks to Kim, he was seriously debating on whether to take up the amazing opportunity he had been given for a headship in Rwanda to make a difference to people's life, if he went there he would make a great head, Kim was sure of it.

Kim locked up, fiddling about with one of the many keys, which jiggled in her purse; she tried one after another until her hands fell onto the right key, bingo! She was about to head back to her car, when she heart a faint scream, at first she thought it was the howling of the wind or the rustling of leaves on a tree, but when she heard another scream, identical to the first one she knew something was up.

"Hello?" She asked nervously stepping forward, wary of her every move. Maxine groaned but with happiness, someone had heard her, relief had flooded across her face as she inwardly smiled to herself despite the pain. At least she wouldn't be able to go through it alone now…

"Miss?" A voice called weakly in the near distance. Kim shuddered with nerves, as she looked around her the single word was no more than a bitter croak, whoever it was they needed help, and it was as if they had used that last sheer bit of energy on that last word. She ran up the hill in the direction of the voice, but even she gasped at what she saw.

"Maxine," She whispered, she didn't need to ask if she was okay since the answer was blatantly obvious, she quickly acted on impulse and flicked her phone number as she called an ambulance urgency uttered on every syllable she spoke. "Max, stay with me," she said holding Maxine's fingers tightly, they had turned white from the cold that was rising in the air, the process was long and painful as Maxine struggled to remain conscious, if the ambulance didn't get here soon the baby would possibly die if they didn't get the support they needed and Max would faint from exhaustion. Maxine didn't reply as she was too busy trying to fight the battle of keeping her eyes open, "do it for Charlotte," she silently whispered to herself.

"Good girl, good girl," Kim said the words sounded precise as if she had rehearsed them a million times, "now… now push," she uttered the final word, but she hadn't needed to say anything because Max had already started the painful process. Soon a midwife had come, and she looked very pleased that Kim was helping support Max and that she wasn't just standing back and watching the girl who was clearly in pain.

It felt like hours before the baby arrived, but it was only half an hour- an hour at the most, the clouds had hidden the sun highlighting how long they had spent watching the miracle that Maxine helped create, it was a baby girl, she felt so soft and tiny in Maxine's arms, and if there was one thing she knew this was going to be the one thing that she wasn't going to mess up.

Maxine was carried on a stretcher as she cradled the new born baby in her arms, Kim who was at loss at what to do stood back until Maxine gestured for her to hop aboard, since in one sense she and the baby would be in a far worse state if it hadn't been for Kim's quick thinking on the spot.

"Does she have a name?" Kim enquired, marvelling at how small the baby looked, it was hard to believe that she had once been that small, but she once again returned her attention to the new-born baby, and the mother with raven black hair in a messy ponytail who was cradling her in her arms.

"Yes Charlotte," Maxine said, and instantly she knew that she had made the right decision, when it had come to thinking of a name, there seemed to be endless possibilities but she was glad that she had come to her final decision, Charlotte sounded short, sweet and just perfect, sometimes the simple names are often the best.

"That's a great name," Kim said, "would you like me to phone anyone?" She said, as she thumbed through the list of contacts on her phone, as she struggled to think of who Max would want to contact.

"Yes," Maxine said, she briefly wondered whether she should phone Steph, Steph had certainly helped her over the past few months, but what would she make of Maxine now? She probably wanted to get rid of Max as soon as she could, otherwise why would she make such a big effort to find a decent foster home? Anyway it wasn't as if Steph's attempts would achieve anything by law Maxine was old enough to look after herself since she had just passed the sixteen year old mark just a few short months ago. "Can you phone Lewis Seddon?" She asked, fishing out Lewis' number from her bag, and Kim groaned inwardly, why did it have to be Lewis out of all people? The boy had caused her far too much trouble just over a year ago, and she had been avoiding trying to make conversation with him ever since.

"Yes of course," Kim said, obliging Maxine's wishes, she was in no position to argue, especially all that Maxine had been through in the past few hours, however when she got up to phone Lewis' her phone started ringing uncontrollably.

"Hello?" She asked, pressing the phone against her ear, as she waited for a response.

"Kim, it's Andrew, I thought we were going out tonight?" He asked, as his posh accent swept through the conversation, almost letting a slight snigger slip out of Kim's mouth.

"Andrew I'm sorry, but I can't, I'm at the hospital right now," Kim replied genuinely upset that she couldn't make the date that they had arranged, even though they only made the plans a few days ago the day itself felt like centuries ago.

"Are you okay?" Andrew asked his voice iced with worry.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kim assured him with the sudden urge to laugh as she successfully managed to picture the worry on his face, "well one of the pupils just had a baby," she said, "but it's fine now…"

"Lucky you were there then," Andrew said interrupting her train of thought, "who was the girl anyway?" He asked as the fleeting thought that he could've taught her at some point in his career occurred to him.

"It was Maxine," Kim said.

"Oh, isn't that Janeece's friend?" Andrew asked quickly, and Kim was quite surprised at how quickly he figured out who she was, it was almost as if he had memorised the details of every pupil in Waterloo Road, but then again nothing was impossible when Andrew was around, there was literally no limit as to how far Andrew would go to do what was best for the school.

"Yes it is," Kim replied quickly checking her watch as her eyes narrowed on the time, it was nearly seven o'clock, just twenty four hours ago she was sipping hot chocolate, looking forward to her upcoming date with Andrew as the greatly anticipated half-term was drawing near.

"Oh, shouldn't you be calling Steph then? I seem to recall Steph has a soft spot for Max, well if the conversations in the staffroom are anything to go by," Andrew said as he slowly began to plant the idea into Kim's head like a seed which was about to grow. A small beep told her that the conversation had ended without a simple 'goodbye.' Quickly she punched Lewis' phone numbers into her old, cranky phone that needed replacing, the conversation was short and very bitter since the two never really had overcome their differences, all Kim said was that Maxine was in hospital, she didn't mention baby Charlotte since he seemed quite oblivious that his girlfriend had been pregnant for the past eight and a half months.

She then quickly phoned Steph, she barely thought about what she was doing and the consequences of her actions, but Steph was practically a mother to Maxine, and after all she had done for the teenage girl she needed to be aware of what was happening.

"Kim?" She asked sleepily as she picked up the phone, "it's only been a few hours since school finished…What now?" She finished somewhat irritably, as she felt herself being cruelly pushed away from her dream world and back into reality.

"Steph, I'm at the hospital, its Maxine, nothing bad has happened I promise, but I think you need to be here," she said careful not to give anything away from her tone of voice which was loud and high pitched a sure sign that she was excited about something.

"Oh, okay," Steph grumbled, as soon as the words left Kim's lips, she smiled to herself, Steph was that predictable she may have many flaws in her character, but her heart was in the right place and that was what mattered most, "I'll be there in five," she said quickly locking the door of her house.

Steph was the first to arrive, and although she seemed somewhat eagerly nervous to see Maxine since she had given up trying to bribe Kim into giving her more information, she agreed to wait until Lewis arrived.

"Alright miss?" Lewis said nodding in the direction of his former teachers' "is Max alright then?" He asked, and Kim quickly nodded and assured him she was fine, but her moves were predictable as if she was playing a game of chess. Kim quickly took the impatient two into the maternity ward; they were welcomed by the sight of screaming babies in all four corners of the compass, this only confused the two more.

"Hello, we're here to see Maxine Barlow," Kim said as she introduced herself, Steph and Lewis who she presumed was the father. As soon as the two entered the room their expressions were perfectly in sync.

"Max!" Steph started as she was the first to recover, "why didn't you tell me?" She asked somewhat hurt that Maxine hadn't confided her in the way that she wished she had, but even she was momentarily star struck by the figure in Maxine's arms, "she's beautiful, what's she called?" Were her final words before the limelight pointed towards Lewis who just stood there with a stunned expression?

"Her name is Charlotte, and I was worried…" Maxine started and the rest started to explain itself and Steph began to feel a wave of sympathy fall across Maxine and Charlotte.

"Okay, that's a beautiful name, there's a rose called Charlotte," Steph said before silently making a promise to bring some charlotte roses in when she visited the young mother and her daughter next. Even though Steph wasn't biologically related to Maxine, she was the closes thing she had to a mother, and she happily played the part of the proud grandmother with no questions asked. Steph stepped behind the curtain deciding to give the couple some privacy as she decided to spark up a conversation with Kim, this was certainly a day that she would remember for the rest of her life.

"Maxine," Lewis started, "I-Uh is it mine?" He asked nervously stumbling over his words, as he let his guard down, Maxine was quite proud to say that she was one of the only living people who had discovered the 'real' Lewis Seddon who used his bad boy interior to camouflage the real him.

"Of course it is," Max said as if he was asking a very stupid question indeed, well the truth of the matter was that the answer was staring at him right in the face, but the problem was that he as usual wasn't looking. Lewis felt a wave emotion coming across him as he scooped the baby into his arms and slightly rocked her to sleep.

"She's beautiful," he said hugging Maxine and letting his true colours show, but worry was etched on his face, the two had just about managed when it was just the two of them, but the added cost of looking after a young baby would put the two in danger of losing baby Charlotte. "Max, what are we going to do?" He asked nervously.

"I don't know, I think I'll put her up for adoption…" Maxine said nervously, she didn't want to do that but she was left with no other choice. Steph and Kim choose this exact moment to re-enter the room with hundred watt smiles stretching across their faces.

"Hi, you two, we couldn't help but overhear your conversation…" Steph stated, cutting to the chase, before she would have to question whether Seddon had changed, but now she knew the truth, even if he hadn't changed he would be willing to bend over backwards to make sure that Maxine and his daughter were safe. Lewis' eyes were narrowed as Steph decided to continue, "how about you stay with me until you get enough money to rent a flat somewhere?" She asked, she didn't know exactly what made her make this offer, but in total honesty she knew Max and Lewis' would need all the help they could get when it came to looking after a tiny infant, and maybe it was time to put her Jack chasing days behind her…

"Really miss you'd do that?" Lewis enquired.

Steph nodded, "but," she started her voice on her 'don't mess with me tone' "there will be a few rules, no drugs and no smoking and I don't want you, Lewis to go out every night, since Charlotte is your responsibility and not just Maxine's…" She said fairly her eyes narrowed as she annotated Lewis' reaction to her demands, surprisingly he nodded without complaint.

"Sure miss," He said quickly, Maxine smiled despite of herself, everything was falling together nicely; it looked like the best gifts came in small packages after all.

**A/N Okay this one-shot is set during series 2 but since I didn't have a specific episode in mind, I just said after we find out about what happened to Max's baby, Yeah I just re-watched series 3 episode 9 and Max was going to call the baby Charlotte, and it's just a mere coincidence that in one of my other one-shots I called Chlo/Donte's baby Charlotte :) I hope you liked it, please review since you're reviews make my day! Literally I can't stop smiling when you review! **

**43 reviews so far a big thank you to all who have reviewed my personal target is fifty, shall we aim for fifty before series 9 airs? :) Yeah! Omigosh! A huge spider! :( Literally... Remember to vote on my poll :D**

**Haha, can't wait for series 9 to air :D I liked WR on Facebook, and for every single status they post, you have around fifty comments saying "I want [name] to return..." My most memorable episode was when Rachel & Matt took Bolton & some of the others to a prison :) and in the end we discover it was all a big setup... **

**Who do you feel sorry for most in Waterloo Road? [In any series]**


	15. What if Rachel had a daughter? 3x1

**What if Rachel had a 12 year old daughter? 3x7**

"Mom," a twelve year old girl moaned, as she pulled the duvet up so all you could see was her eyes, her voice was tinted with annoyance and the unfairness of what was happening.

"Molly Mason, please just do as your told, this is a fresh start for both of us," her mother replied opting for her strict tone that was rarely seen, as she quickly glanced at her watch, she really couldn't afford for her or Molly to be late, she already knew from experience that first impressions count, and she was hoping to make a lasting first impression.

"But I like it at Lakeview comp, why couldn't we stay there?" Molly retorted, as she let the duvet slip from her not so steady grasp, "what about my friends?" She asked, annoyed that she would probably never get the chance to see them again, that was the brutal truth of the situation, up until now she had been the one who had phoned, emailed and instant messaged them and if she didn't do that she would afraid that her memory would just turn into dust… Like the faded picture of her year seven school photo which stood in the centre of her form room, in honour of her becoming form rep, she would get replaced; sooner or later…

"Moll, we've been through this millions of times already, Lakeview comp has a bad reputation and it's too far away for you to travel," Rachel Mason said in her don't mess with me tone, in all honesty she wanted Molly to be where she could keep an eye on her, she herself had grown up going to Lakeview comp and she seemed to recall that every moment there was a living nightmare. When she went there pupils could get bullied for weeks on end and the teachers really couldn't give a monkey and judging by the last parents evening she had attended not much had changed.

"I could've stayed with Auntie Mel and Philip," Molly replied quickly referring to her Aunt who lived about a mile from Lakeview comp, Rachel's eyes narrowed normally Molly wasn't this argumentative but her daughter knew fully well that, that wasn't an option. As far back as she could remember her sister and nephew moved around a lot, the longest they had stayed in one place was just over four months, Rachel never knew the real reason behind the sudden departures and although she often wished she did she knew her sister well enough that she would tell her the truth when she was ready, all Rachel had to do was be patient…

"Moll, you couldn't do that, and you know that better than anyone, anyway Waterloo Road sounds like a marvellous school," Rachel said coaxingly.

"Yeah, but everyone will know me as the heads daughter," Molly mumbled quietly, and Rachel struggled to make out the sentence that she had quietly whispered almost to herself.

"It'll be fine, honest," Rachel said before successfully managing to get Molly out of the bed as she quickly prepared breakfast knowing that they needed to rush if they were even going to hope of getting there on time. Molly quickly got dressed as she ran a brush through a tangled mess that made her look like she had been dragged through her hedge, her flowing brown hair cascaded down her back as she hoisted it into a sloppy ponytail. Her brown eyes glinted in the poor light, and they were sparkling with mischief a sure sign that everyone should be aware of her presence.

The curtains were brutally pulled open and Molly had to shed her eyes from the sudden burst of light, 'A beautiful day' had just come on the radio, and although it certainly matched the weather it certainly didn't match her mood that was overcrowded with clouds struggling to find light in the darkness…

When she went down stairs another glance at the clock told her that time was of the essence, she quickly jammed some toast into her mouth before putting her coat and shoes on, crumbs were falling everywhere, making an enormous mess that she would regret later in the afternoon. However that wasn't the priority right now since Molly knew her mother didn't tolerate tardiness of any kind, and today was no exception.

Her mother was already in the car, her hands were shaking with nerves as she gingerly placed her hands on the steering wheel, "Molly straighten your tie," she said quickly making sure that her daughter looked at least presentable, first impressions counted… As Molly hopped into the car, the two drove off in silence, their mind secretly echoing the worries that neither of them spoke off.

As they got out of the car, Rachel was greeted by an L.E.A official whilst Molly hung about loosely observing her surroundings, it was different to Lakeview which was caked from head to toe in graffiti, the thing that surprised her most was the quietness of the school, she guessed that lessons had already started, but to her the quietness seemed spookily eerie…

"And you must be Molly," the L.E.A official stated noting her presence for the first time, she seemed surprised but Molly couldn't see why, slowly she came back to her senses and kept her professional interior in place, and showed the two to the head teachers office…"Right this way, your deputy is Eddie Lawson I'm sure you'll get on just fine."

The three walked towards the vacant heads office, but the only problem was that when they arrived it didn't appear vacant, as someone had already dumped a plastic bag on the table. Which made Rachel question one of the many questions that were playing tricks on her mind, "does this Eddie person know I was coming?" She asked curiously.

"No," the L.E.A official who Molly now realised was called Ria said, "although he knew that the L.E.A would waste no time finding a replacement for the previous head," she stated but even she was a little surprised how quickly Eddie had settled into his surroundings.

"Bridget, we have a new pupil starting today, has she arrived?" Eddie Lawson said bustling through the office, and smiling at his secretary with a genuine smile, he was sad to see Jack go of course, but now he had the power to make sure his plans worked… Bridget nodded towards his office, and it seemed strange that they had invited themselves in, but Eddie didn't ponder over the thought any longer.

As he entered the off the first person he saw was Ria, "good morning, I wasn't expecting you to visit so soon…" Eddie said smoothly trying not to let the worry invade his face, in reality all the L.E.A seemed to do was drop bombs on the schools, it was as if they were in charge of an obstacle race so to speak.

"Eddie, I'd like you to meet the new head teacher of Waterloo Road; Rachel Mason," Ria said introducing the person he had only just spotted from the corner of his eye, surprise was evident on his face, as he looked at the person who would be taking on the role as his new boss…

"Pleased to meet you Eddie," she said holding out her hand and giving him a withering smile, she may not have been an expert at reading people but she knew that he was secretly hoping to act as acting head at least till the end of the week… He shook her hand after hesitating slightly, before asking Ria if he could have a word outside.

Rachel fell on the sofa and rubbed her hand over her forehead, "well that didn't go according to plan," she mumbled burying her face in her hands, "clearly he thought he was acting head…" she said as she stopped off suddenly not wanting to say anymore in front of Molly.

"Mom, it's going to be fine," Molly assured her, but it already seemed like her mother's plans were already falling to bits, piece by piece. After a few moments Ria and Eddie returned, and it was only then that Eddie was aware of the new pupil that had been sitting quietly in the office witnessing the entire encounter with his new boss.

"Anyway Eddie, this is my daughter Molly," Rachel said stepping in and introducing her daughter, "she'll be starting year eight," she said quickly, avoiding his gaze, as she focused her attention on her daughter who was nervously biting her nails.

"Pleased to meet you Molly," Eddie said, smiling at the younger girl whose eyes where vacant with nervous, the mischievous glint was gone and Rachel wondered if it would ever return… "Right, here's your schedule, I'll take you to meet your mentor," he said quickly taking her in the direction of the sixth form common room, "Mika?" He said focusing his attention of a teenage girl whose eyes were rimmed with tears.

"What?" She said rudely unaware of the younger pupils presence.

"This is Molly she's new here, and I've decided to make you her mentor, can you show her the ropes please?" Eddie asked.

"Fine," Mika grumbled, "but I know why you're doing this, it's a feeble attempt to take my mind of things…Well trust me it's not going to work," she snapped before ruthlessly grabbing Molly's timetable and taking the younger girl to her first class.

"Mika, do this for your mother okay? She would be so proud of you," Eddie sighed, he hated pulling out the mother card but it was the truth if she could see Mika now she would be proud of how she was coping despite everything. He knew that he had just taken a huge risk, but he believed that Mika was best suited for the job, his hope that it would take her mind of things would die in vain, but he knew that Mika would try and help the younger girl as best she could…

Mika didn't say anything, as she scanned through Molly's time table, "well you have Haydock for French, Koreshi and Clarkson for English, Wilding for Drama and Music and Lawson for maths," she said before raising her eyebrows mildly impressed, if only she had those teachers when she was in year 8! "They're not bad teachers, just be warned of Haydock, you definitely don't want to get on the wrong side of her…Anyway you've already met Lawson."

"Yeah, anyway how could you talk to a member of staff like that? If I'd done that in my old school I'd be in detention for a week at least…" Molly shuddered at the afterthought.

"Well we have the same rules here, but Lawson knows that I've had a tough time of it recently, you see my sister… she's gone missing," Mika bit her lip, as Molly had to fight the urge to hug the older girl, she couldn't help it but she felt so sorry for her, if it was Philip who had gone missing she didn't know how she could live with herself, even though they weren't siblings he was the closest thing she had to a brother.

"I'm sorry," she said somewhat ashamed it looked as if curiosity had got the better of her once more…

"Yeah, well you were going to find out anyway," Mika mused, "now we'd better get you off to Wilding's class," she said before leading the younger girl towards the drama department. Mr Wilding wasted no time introducing Molly, and Molly smiled in reply today would be the one and only day where she would be known as Molly Mason and not Molly Mason the daughter of the new head teacher.

"Hey there!" A girl said chirpily who was sitting on the adjacent desk, she had long wavy messy hair similar to her own, but hers was placed into a messy bun which was perched on the top of her head, her dark blue eyes were smiling genuinely down at her and it wasn't just out of sympathy, "I'm Georgie Quirke," she said quickly introducing herself, "and this is Irene Clark," she said introducing the other girl eho was sitting next to ger and Molly smiled in return.

"I'm Molly Mason, it's nice to meet you," she said smiling. Irene had chocolate brown hair hung loosely around her face, and Molly vaguely wonder if it was dyed, it's curled to perfection to give off a natural wavy look, the look is then topped off with a beret, but the main thing is that the look fits for her, even if she does look very vintage, it was a bold choice and it was one that would only work if the person had an air of self-confidence which Irene definitely had.

"I can't wait to audition for the school musical!" Georgie enthused injecting a lot of optimism and chirpiness into her speech. Irene rolled her eyes, as she took the laid-back attitude that she had opted to go for when she first met Georgie.

"Don't mind Georgie, as Leanne says she has broken into the ozone layer of optimism," Irene said smiling fondly at her friend, the two seemed like great friends and it reminded Molly of her friends back home; Joanna and Stacy, "hey what have you got next?" Irene asked peering over to look at Molly's planner.

"I've got Miss Haydock next," she said wondering if she would kept on her toes throughout the next lesson.

"Same here!" Georgie said with too much optimism in her voice, "after then it's lunch, how about you sit with us at lunch?" She asked quickly, and Molly nodded quickly accepting Georgie's offer.

Meanwhile Eddie had returned to the head teachers office, Ria had long since gone, and he knew that the dream of his first day as head as Waterloo Road was slowly fading into dust.

"So Molly's your daughter?" He asked Rachel curiously.

"Yes, she is, do you think she'll settle in okay?" Rachel replied shortly but her own curiosity was inked on her face.

"Yes, for the first few weeks she has a mentor who is a member of the sixth form to help show her the ropes," Eddie replied smoothly.

"That's a great idea!" Rachel replied admiring the idea, "but moving on from that, I have five weeks to start a business enterprise course for the school, after all this school only offers academic courses, we should start offering vocational courses…" She said quickly, "and can you set up a staff meeting please?" She said before collapsing into her chair and wondering how her daughter was doing in her first class.

French went smoothly without any major dramas, but then again Molly hadn't been expecting any, she was very relieved that she was sitting down the aisle from Georgie; it was nice to have one friendly face in a classroom mixed with pre-teens and teenagers.

Soon the lunch bell rang, Molly slowly packed up her stuff wondering whether Georgie had remembered to keep her promise of letting her sit by them, Molly wasn't one to get her hopes up but even she couldn't help but keep the surprise out of her voice when Georgie cornered her.

"Come on," she said somewhat irritably, "if we don't get there soon all the tables will be gone," she said practically dragging her to the canteen, the canteen was a small rectangular room, which seemed much bigger on the outside than on the inside, she fingered the sandwiches her mother packed as she watched Georgie greet Irene who was already in the dinner queue.

Georgie went towards a table by the window, she sat down on the chair nearest the window and dumped her bag on the seat next door; which was clearly for Irene, Molly quickly took the chair that was adjacent to Georgie's before taking in her surroundings. She could see her mother on the other side of the room; she seemed to be talking to Mr Lawson and Miss Haydock, Molly could guess that the conversation wasn't going smoothly as Mr Lawson was determined not to make eye contact with either of the two.

"Did you hear the news?" Irene exclaimed, placing her tray on the table in an immense hurry, "there's a new head teacher," she said before examining Georgie's expression.

"Really?!" She said, "I thought Lawson was acting head for the time being, Rimmer was a good head though," she said as surprise leaked through her voice.

"Well they found a replacement pretty quickly then, no wonder Lawson looked so cheesed off when I was late for reg," Irene finished, before nodding towards the staff table, "I'm guessing that's her there."

Molly groaned, how long now before her cover was blown? "Well she looks alright," Georgie mused quietly, glancing at the new head teacher, before quietly noting the similarities between her new friend and the new head teacher.

Rachel smiled to herself, as she looked fondly at her daughter who had wasted no time in making new friends, despite Molly's previous worries, she knew all along that Molly would settle in just fine, she only wished her first day was going just as well.

"Hey Eddie," she asked, "Who are those two girls over there?" she said motioning towards Georgie and Irene, even though she trusted her daughter enough to make reliable and trustworthy friends she felt her motherly instincts kicking in.

Eddie followed her gaze and smiled to himself, "Oh those two that's Irene Clark and Georgie Quirke, pair of brainboxes those two, they're good kids, you don't need to worry," he said trying to reassure his new boss, and a small relieved smile was perched on Rachel's face.

Steph finally clicked, as she watched Rachel's gaze, "Oh, is Molly your daughter?" She said, "I just had her for French, she seemed to have a good grasp of the language," she said truthfully but she was also trying to butter up to her new boss, who was clearly on no nonsense mode.

"Well that's good to know," she said slowly smiling at her two colleagues, before finally relaxing and tucking into the her food, before dropping a bomb on Steph whilst she was munching on her Candice special. After the conversation was over, Rachel got up to leave, Eddie chuckled lightly to himself; Rachel Mason certainly wasn't messing around.

"Enjoy your Candice special Steph," he said before walking away from the canteen.

The rest of the day passed smoothly, and Molly was glad that Georgie and Irene were there to show her the ropes; she hadn't seen Mika since this morning which was hardly surprising since it was a big school and it was apparent that Mika had far bigger worries than looking after her…

The final lesson of the day was with Miss Koreshi for English, although Molly loved English, she was struggling to concentrate, her mind wondering as she struggled to calculate all that had happened in the past few hours. At the end of lunchtime she had exchanged phone numbers with Georgie and Irene, and she was secretly holding onto the hope that they would later become good friends.

At the end of the day, she headed into her mother's office. However she was in for a shock, when she walked in she saw Mika lying down on the couch, as she was being comforted by Eddie who looked incredibly intense as he wasn't expected to be handed this responsibility.

"Hi Mika," she said before whizzing around on the chair behind the desk.

"Hi Molly," Mika said struggling to form her words, "how was your first day?" She asked.

"It was great!" Molly enthused, maybe Georgie's optimism was catching after all, "I made some new friends; Irene and Georgie, and drama was great!" She said, before whizzing around on the chair once more. As her mother appeared from the doorway, mopping up her blouse with a tissue.

"Hi Molly," she said trying to get the younger girl's attention who was talking quite animatedly to Mika, even though Mika was barely paying attention, but that was Molly for you; a chatterbox, and if you nodded then the conversation would turn out just fine, "do you two know each other?"

"Yes," Molly replied, "Mika is my mentor at Waterloo Road," she said smiling, before Rachel quickly dragged Eddie to speak with him outside, and she didn't particularly want Mika and Molly overhearing their conversation.

Eddie quickly bought her up to speed, and Rachel was outraged, "why didn't you tell me any of this?" She asked annoyed.

"Well, I didn't really have any time to bring you up to speed with every pupil's life story did I? You were too busy with your fancy new ideas," Eddie said equally as annoyed, before leaving Rachel to deal with her daughter and Mika, she needed to make amends what she had done…

After having a long talk with Mika, whilst Molly amused herself by talking to Bridget, she was happy that she had already corrected her mistakes, from what she had found out Mika hadn't had an easy time of it lately. "Well, Chlo has been found," She finished smiling, "that's good news isn't it?" Mika smiled genuinely.

"Thank you Miss and I'm sorry for…" She said gesturing towards the blouse which parts of it was a shade darker than the rest of the blouse.

"Don't worry, we've all done it, you'll wake up with a killer headache tomorrow though," Rachel said knowing that Mika would regret wallowing in her worries the next day, she told Bridget to bring her daughter in knowing that she couldn't delay the upcoming conversation any longer.

"So Molly how was your day?" She asked quickly.

"Mom, it was great, everyone is so nice here, I made some friends with two girls in my class; Georgie Quirke and Irene Clark, they're really nice, but I hope they don't freak out when they find out that my mom is the new head teacher…" she said slowly stating her worries of being known as the heads daughter.

Rachel grabbed her bags, and walked outside with Mika and Molly in tow, she saw Mika's face light up as Tom's old car drove up the driveway, with a familiar face that Mika feared that she may never see again, the two hugged and that was enough to put a smile on anyone's face.

"Let's go home," Rachel said. When they got home the first thing Molly did was Skype her Aunt and her cousin, it had become a regular routine ever since she started Lakeview last year.

"Hi Philip! Hi Auntie Mel," She said as she saw her cousin and Aunt's familiar faces appear on the screen.

"Hey Molly how's my favourite niece? How was your first day at Waterloo Road?" Melissa asked as she curiously wondered how her niece's first day went; it was day that she knew Molly had been dreading since she first heard the news.

"I'm your only niece! It was okay, it's really different to Lakeview, but everyone seems okay, I made some new friends, but I'm not sure how they'll react when they realise my mum's the head teacher," she said nervously.

"Moll you'll be fine!" Melissa assured her niece, "can I speak to your mother please?" She asked, wanting to find out how her sister had got on, this was the new beginning that she had secretly longed for.

Molly went downstairs, and made some tea as Rachel went to upstairs to talk to her sister, she noted also that Philip's chair was vacant.

"Hi Rach, how was your first day?" Melissa asked and Rachel rubbed her head in response.

"I don't know Mel, this was the new start I was hoping for, but it seems apparent that my deputy Eddie Lawson was acting head and I think he was hoping to be head for a bit longer, I'm guessing he'll be breathing down my neck throughout the term…" She said annoyed at how she and her deputy failed to get on.

"Looks like you've got your work cut out then sis," Melissa said.

"Not to mention one of the pupils was sick on me and I caught one of the teachers gambling…" Rachel ranted.

"Oh, a pupil was sick what happened?" Melissa asked curiously, "a teacher gambling? Aren't those websites blocked on the school network?"

"Well, the pupil was drunk, it didn't help that Eddie undermined me in front of the class, I was harsh on her, and it wasn't fair that I wasn't told about her history, you see her sister is missing and her mum died a few months back…Yeah, tomorrow I'm going to make sure that all related gambling websites are blocked as of today."

"Oh, poor kid," Melissa said sympathetically, "why weren't you told?" She asked.

"I don't know, I think Eddie was just waiting for me to slip up," Rachel replied.

"You mean he deliberately didn't tell you?" Melissa ranted.

"I guess so…" Rachel mused.

"Well on another note, Molly seems to have settled in quite well," Melissa said changing the subject quickly.

"Yes, I'm quite pleasantly surprised at that, she has made two new friends, I guess that's all it took to brighten her day," Rachel said, "anyway Mel I have to go now, and make spag bol," she said before smiling and logging off after Mel and Philip said their goodbyes.

Molly and Rachel ate their spaghetti bolognaise in silence, it was only then that Molly bought up the question that had been playing tricks on her mind during the entire afternoon, "do you think Irene and Georgie will still want to be friends after they realise I'm the heads daughter?" She asked.

Rachel only took seconds before conducting their reply, "Of course they will, they befriended you as an individual not you as the heads daughter, the fact that you're the heads daughter should make no difference to them," she said keeping her tone upbeat before mentally preparing herself for the next day. Whilst Molly headed upstairs as if the weight from her shoulders had been lifted.

**A/N Shout out to ReddieFan25 who has reviewed on this story- at least twice :) She requested this what if, and I hope you take the time to look at her stories!**

**Good luck to all who are going to/ have received their A-Levels results! I hope you get the grades you deserve.**

**I quite like this what if, I wasn't expecting it to be so long! I couldn't think of Waterloo Road characters who were in Yr 8 during series 3, so I used two characters (Georgie & Irene) from my other story on Wattpad; Defying Gravity. **

**Please review; reviews make my day seriously! Say what you liked/disliked about this chapter since it's lovely to know what people think of this fic :) And please favourite/follow me as an author on here, and I'll do the same for you! :D Shall we try and get 50 reviews before the next update?! **

**Also do any of you like the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz? **

**In Waterloo Road; I feel sorry for Tom since all of his relationships failed; I suppose you could argue that he had a happy ending in the end; being reunited with Izzie and all, but I also feel sorry for Philip in series 4... ): My most memorable episode was the prison episode with Bolton and it was all just a clever plan to make sure he didn't leave :) **

**Who do you find the funniest character on Waterloo Road? What did you think of Georgie and Irene?**


	16. What if Tom didn't die? 8x30

**What if Tom didn't die? 8x30**

Two eyes slowly blinked, adjusting to the light in the darkness, they were only visible for a second and all you could barely see the round orbs that had once contained so much light, the light in the darkness as one might say. The eyelids closed once more, it felt like too much effort to lift the heavy eyes for even a few seconds…

Slowly he began to drag up his energy, so that he could open his eyes once more, his movements were slow and ragged, but after a lot of effort he opened his eyes just enough to observe his surroundings. He was in a rectangular room, it was clean and white as far as the eye could see, there were cards on the table beside him, and a small gathering of people talking in hushed voices on the edge of his bed, but who were they? He tried to rack his brain for hidden information but no information came to him, they looked unrecognisable as far as he was concerned.

"He blinked," one of the voices said but by this time he closed his eyes again falling into an erratic daze, the speaker could barely keep the excitement from her voice, as she walked up to the now sleeping man. The doctor quickly jotted some notes down in his notepad, but he shook his head sadly.

"That is good news, even the smallest of actions can make the biggest difference, but it could be months or even years before he wakes, even then I'm afraid there is a good chance that he has damaged his brain, that was quite a fall he took," the doctor finished, the nametag read Doctor Hilton, and he looked sincerely sorry as he spoke the words.

"But there's still hope right?" Said another voice as he held onto his wife's hand tightly, but even he could not keep the slight tremor from invading his voice.

"There's always hope," The doctor said, "but I don't want you to get your hopes up," doctor Hilton said evenly, sadly looking at the patient's condition, from the stories his visitors told him it sounded like he had a very eventful life. One thing was sure he was definitely one of the most popular visitors and sometimes Dr Hilton found it necessary to put a limit on how many people visited him a day.

"I can't stand seeing him in so much pain," another voice chipped in, "he was like a father figure to us, he saved my life," she continued, before asking the question everyone had been dreading, "will he die?"

The doctor paused for a moment, "in his current condition I don't think he will die, but he will be in a lot of pain, and he will have to be under extreme care if he ever pulls through," the doctor finished without much hope, before leaving to get the patient's medication. The first girl buried her head on her husband's shoulder, it was the truth, the brutal truth, doctors weren't paid to be kind, and they were paid to save people's lives…

Months had passed, and the patient was slowly recovering, what worried the doctors most that when he still had his loyal visitors, even when he was awake he wouldn't speak to them, all he would do was listen and stare out the window, he may physically be alive but emotionally he was dead.

"Tom?" A voice said, this was one of the few visits where he was wide awake and paying attention, but he seemed surprised by the single word she uttered.

"Who's Tom?" He said replying for the first time, his brown eyes were glinting in the sunlight, as the doctor had decided the sunlight would do him good after being in a coma for the past six months.

"You're Tom!" The young adult chuckled slightly wondering if this was his version of a practical joke, she had never heard him joke but there was a first time for everything.

"I am? Who are you?" He said in a voice that seemed as if he was even questioning his own existence, this was enough to worry the woman as she carefully wrung her hands together which were shaking with nerves.

"I'm Chlo; your daughter," Chlo said slowly empathising every word.

"I have a daughter?" Tom said incredulously.

"Well, you have two daughters and one son; Mika, Josh and I," Chlo continued nervously.

"I do?" Tom said curiously, he seemed genuinely surprised, "why do you call me Tom if I'm your father?" He said as his mind whizzed back to just a few minutes previously. Chlo took a sharp intake of breath, she knew that she should have mentally prepared for this situation as soon as the words were out of her mouth, truth was Tom was like the stable father figure that had previously been missing from her life, and he had looked after her and Mika through the good times and the bad times.

"Oh, well you looked after me, I'm Izzie's daughter," she said.

"Oh, you are? I remember you now! You were in a car crash weren't you? How are Izzie and Lorna?" He said talking in an animated chatter, Chlo stood dead in her tracks, Lorna and her mother had been dead for five years now, and the car crash was almost six years ago, so why was he talking about five year old events like they had just happened yesterday?

She quickly went outside, and quietly composed herself in the clean corridor, there was not a speck of dirt to be seen she observed, over the years she had spent too much time in hospitals and she wasn't ready to lose the person who she had depended on when she was just a teenager…

"Doctor Hilton?" She asked looking for the doctor with laughing grey eyes, and freckles sprawled over his face, and his brown hair that was swept up over his eyes, so it was one solitary wave.

"Yes Chlo?" He said peering over his notes, he couldn't help but notice how frantic the young woman looked.

"Well today Tom spoke," she said and Doctor Hilton's eyes lit up, this was progress indeed! But why was she saying it like it was a bad thing? "But the problem is, he talked about events that happened six years ago, like they were yesterday." She finished sadly.

"What?" Doctor Hilton said amazed, it seemed quite apparent to him that Chlo wasn't lying, but it was a curious case indeed, the way she said it made it sound like Tom had misplaced the past six years, "I'll have to see what you mean…" He said heading into the patients room, where the patient was sitting with a very perplexed look perched on his face, "hey, Tom, I'm Doctor Hilton, before we continue I would like to ask you what the last thing you remember is…"

Tom thought for a moment before replying, "Well my fiancée is pregnant, but we had a row because she wanted to comfort her friend who also happened to be my ex-wife…" He said, Chlo sighed she remembered that night, that was the night where her mum lost the baby, and the infamous argument when Stacey was caught in Tom's bed… He then continued when he realised doctor Hilton needed more information, "I work in Waterloo Road in Rochdale, the head teacher is Jack Rimmer, I also help look after Chlo and Mika who are Izzie's daughters," he said before looking at Chlo as he analysed Chlo's every movement, "you say your Chlo but you can't be, Chlo isn't even fifteen yet and you're in your early twenties…" He exclaimed, as the doctor jotted all of this in his notebook, it turned out that Chlo was very much correct, since Waterloo Road was no-longer in Rochdale, and Jack Rimmer had stepped down nearly five years ago…

"Tom Clarkson, over the past six months you have been in a coma, you fell of the roof and you banged your head very hard, we assume that this is the reason why you have memories of the past six years," Doctor Hilton finished, Chlo stiffened nervously as she felt Tom's gaze land upon her.

"Six years? How can it be six years when I can remember it like it was yesterday?" Tom exclaimed outraged that he had no recollection of the past six years… "What's changed?" He asked, Chlo stiffened once more she was pretty sure that he wouldn't be ready for the answer…

"Well Waterloo Road is in Scotland now, Jack Rimmer stepped down as head almost five years ago, and you discovered that you had a son a few years back," Chlo said, deliberately leaving out her mum and Lorna from her statement, he wasn't emotionally ready to hear the news… yet.

"Scotland?!" Tom exclaimed, "and why did Jack step down? I liked him…" He said, not making this conversation even easier, making Chlo feel even more guilty that there was so much she wasn't tell him, she knew that she couldn't tell him the real reason why Jack had stepped down, but she knew that she needed to stick as close to the truth as possible…

"Jack Rimmer was overridden with guilt, and he was addicted to anti-depressants," Chlo said slowly, she had figured out the truth a few years after his departure. Tom looked confused, and she knew that now was the time to say goodbye for the day.

Tom sat down gazing up at the ceiling his mind whirring, Chlo's reactions to some of the things he said were priceless, but there was something she wasn't telling him, he was sure of it, but how much could change in six years?

"Hi Mika, Donte, Josh," Chlo said greeting the trio that were standing outside.

"How was he?" Asked Mika nervously but judging by Chlo's expression the overall outcome of the visit wasn't that good.

"Well he's awake, and he spoke to me, but the problem is…" Chlo said before breaking off her sentence mid-way, Donte rubbed her shoulder comfortingly as Mika urged her to continue, "he… he, the only things he can remember are things that happened six years ago; mum, Lorna, the car crash…" She said slowly, "he doesn't even have a clue that mum's dead and how he blamed Rimmer for her death," she finished.

"How are we going to tell him?" Mika asked sadly, it had been bad enough the first time around, but now it would be even worse given the circumstances.

"I don't know, I really don't know," Chlo mumbled, burying her head in Donte's shoulder, "it's not fair," she wailed looking up at the sky. They stood there for several long minutes when two cars drove up; one of them belonged to Christine Mulgrew, the other contained Nikki Boston and Grantley Budgen.

"Hey, Josh," Nikki greeted in her usual upbeat manner.

"Hi, Miss Boston," Josh said in a flat tone, "this is Donte and Chlo Charles and Mika Grainger," he said introducing his companions.

"Enough with the formalities Josh you can call me Nikki, anyway how is he?" Miss Boston said looking curiously at the worried faces she had been welcomed with.

"Well he is awake and talking, only the last thing he can remember was dated six years ago, when he was engaged to someone called Izzie…?" Josh said, and Nikki marvelled at how closely he resembled his father; it was then that Mika had an idea.

"How about Mr Budgen goes to talk to him? He knew Tom then," Mika said before showing Grantley the way to Tom's room, where his attention was fluttering in the breeze.

"Hi, Grantley mate, how are you?" Tom asked finally relieved some adult company for once, sure Chlo, Mika, Donte and Josh were technically adults now but the last memory he had of them was when they were still teenagers.

"I'm good, how are you Tom?" Grantley asked.

"I don't know mate, the doctor tells me that my signals in by brain have been switched off, resulting in me having no recollection of the last six years, but how's Waterloo Road? Chlo said it's been moved to Scotland…"

"Yeah, that's true there's a new head now; Christine Mulgrew, humph, all these new heads make my head spin, they come and go as they please, dedications a rare thing nowadays…" Grantley replied keeping his tone as vague as possible.

"Oh, Christine Mulgrew?" Tom's eyes quirked up in surprise, "has she been head long? And what happened to me?" He asked, it was only natural that he was curious about what had happened.

"No, she hasn't been head long, as for you, you fell of the roof trying to save a pupil from a worse fate, but you can't save everybody…" Grantley said in his usual pessimistic tone.

"So, if six years really has passed where are all the old staff at Waterloo Road now? Kim, Andrew, Davina, Izzie, Lorna, Jack and Steph? Apart from you I haven't seen any of them so far…" Grantley took a sharp intake of breath.

"They left," Grantley replied shortly, not wanting to dampen Tom's mood with the news, "but uh, the thing is…" He said continuing slowly, "it's a great burden to have to say this but…" He continued empathising his point, "Izzie and Lorna are in fact dead…" he said and Tom stood still in shock, how could the love of his life be dead?

"Can you go please?" He asked Grantley, and Grantley left with no further questions asked in brutal honesty he was expecting this response, but he knew fully well that someone had to break the news sooner or later. Tom stared at the ceiling his eyes brimming with tears as he recalled all the moments he shared with Izzie, she was one of the kindest people that he knew, she always put others before herself…

The news came as a shock to Tom as if he woken by a blast of cold air on his cheeks, maybe one day he would be able to return to work, but he knew that things would never be the same again…

**A/N Okay this was slightly out there... Yeah, so this what-if was way overdue, and I wanted to do it before series 9 started, it's probably really inaccurate I don't even know if this is possible since he lost only six years of his memories :| I was just really out of ideas, so... yeah.**

**OMG, I can't believe that I had 11 REVIEWS on the last chapter, I didn't know that so many of you liked the what if Rachel had a daughter scenario :) Literally I was like :O all day, not to mention that I kept punching the air. So please review, it makes my day! (plus I tend to upload faster) **

**Okay, so my funniest character would have to be Steph and Grantley their just hilarious :P Okay, so if you want when you review you can mention any Waterloo Road fic and say why you like it, and I'll mention it on the bottom on future updates (providing that it isn't yours) **


	17. What if Michael & Christine dated? 8x30

**What if Michael and Christine got back together? 8x30**

Christine sighed as she splashed some milk in her cup, today was supposed to be a day for celebrating, it was the first day of the summer holiday's after all, but after what happened Yesterday, her mind was whirring as if it was drilled into overactive mode, how could she possibly relax after Yesterday?

Slowly she got her bowl of cereal, but her mind was only half conscious, as she reached out to pour a tea-spoon of sugar on the cereal, well she thought it was sugar, in fact it was salt, and after that one simple mouth full, she spat it out as the bitterness of the salt invaded her mouth.

She quickly gulped down her tea, and in the process she managed to spill it all down her top, today simply wasn't her day, the job she had thrown herself into just over a year ago seemed to be the cause of all of her problems…

"Mom, are you okay?" Connor said nervously, as he watched his mum mop up the tea that she had spilt, she wasn't herself and for once he didn't think that alcohol was the cause of it.

"Connor, I'm fine," Christine assured him.

Despite her assurance, he still looked unconvinced, "well if you say so," he said deciding to take a leap of faith in his mother, after all he had a jam-packed day planned with Kevin, Dynasty and Imogen and he had been looking forward to it since they first started planning it shortly after Steve-o left for good, "I'm going to hang out with Kevin, Dynasty and Imogen okay?" He said excitedly yet he couldn't help but keep the reluctance out of his voice, today of all days his mother needed him, but for once she was going to have to wait…

"Okay bye Connor," Christine said as the aftertaste of the salt dissolved from her mouth, when Connor banged the door short, she was engulfed in the eerie silence. She wiped her eyes which were sparked with tears, everything was falling apart and she had no way to control it, first Michael saying he didn't love her, then Tom the most well liked teacher dying and now it had become apparent that her son didn't need her anymore.

She felt dubious at what to do, in a last minute frenzy, she opened up her Facebook account, a few seconds later the recent stories that her friends had posted popped up.

**_Sonya D liked a page. _**

Was the most recent storyline, the page was 'R.I.P Tom Clarkson' a few seconds later she posted on the page.

**Sonya D: "He was a great teacher! He didn't deserve to die." **

Christine liked the page quickly; the page had already had over 1,000 likes already, most of the people who liked it were probably either past or present pupils of Waterloo Road or members of the staff. One of the comments surprised Christine, it was quite frank but none the less it was the true.

**Chris M: "Tom always put pupils before himself right from day one."**

There were already a number of comments based on this post and Christine scanned through them all.

**Rose K: "Tom, helped me through some difficult times, if he made a promise he would keep it, even though his relationship failed because of his kindness R.I.P Tom." **

**Mika G: "He was like a father to me, I'm forever in his debt, and he helped me through some harsh times." **

**Chlo C: "Even though, we're not related I think of him as a dad he was there when I needed him most, I will never forget him." **

**Kacey B: "Mr Clarkson tried to help me if it wasn't for him my life would've been even more difficult, I don't know how I could've done it without him…" **

Christine looked at the comments and her eyes were blurred with tears, she didn't know these people; apart from Kacey that is and their stories; but it seemed like Tom had made an amazing impact on their lives. Quickly she typed her own message.

**Christine M: "Tom made an amazing impact on so many people's lives; Waterloo Road will never be the same without him."**

She posted without a second thought, before returning to her page, then she noticed something, on Facebook her relationship status was still; 'in a relationship with Michael Byrne' after all that had happened she had simply forgotten to change it. But if she didn't change it soon people would start asking questions…

**_Christine Mulgrew has changed her relationship status from 'being in a relationship' to 'single.'_**

The message popped up on her timeline, it looked like her relationship had officially ended with Michael now, but maybe it was just wishful thinking that they would end happily ever after, a few seconds later an ad popped out.

**_Are you a teacher? Are you single? Then visit the teacher's lounge, in hope of achieving your happily ever after!_**

Christine scanned through the ad quickly, before deciding to click on it, what did she have to lose anyway? The website was very detailed and it even had a chat room for every department; English, maths, science, you name it! She clicked on the teacher's lounge… Before clicking a few details to sign up, there was an alert telling her to use another name in case by some weird coincidence, she was talking to her colleagues, after all people would tend to get embarrassed if people found out that they were using these sites. She selected the name 'Carole M' before continuing.

**Carole M: Hello is anyone there? **

She typed without much hope, surprisingly enough she had a reply within seconds, it seemed that these people had so much time on their hands…

**Danielle S: Hi! Finally another female to talk to!**

**Carole M: Is it really that bad? Is this place overruled with males?**

**Danielle S: Pretty much. So relationship crisis?**

**Carole M: Well it ended a few weeks back, I only got round to changing my status on Facebook though, you?**

**Danielle S: I gave up on men a few years ago, but there's no harm in looking is there? But right now I'm window shopping :P**

Christine smiled, Danielle seemed friendly and down to earth, and she briefly wondered what had made her decide to give up on men…

**Carole M: How did your relationships end if you don't mind me asking?**

**Danielle S: Don't worry people ask that all the time! Well I started dating my boss, but he said he 'needed' me and the problem was, I didn't need him- I just loved him, plus he slept with another woman when my back was turned. And my next boyfriend? Well, he lied to me… What about you? **

**Evan L: Hey Dan, how are you?**

**Danielle S: I'm good, meet Carole, where's Matt and Aaron? **

**Matt B: Did somebody say Matt?**

**Evan L: Matt, mate always the joker…**

**Aaron T: Hi Carole, this is the best welcome you're going to get!**

**Matt B: I'm not the joker Evan, I'm deadly serious… **

**Carole M: Well, hi guys nice to meet you… How are you all?**

**Danielle S: I'm okay but I said that earlier didn't I? (: **

**Evan L: I'm busy babysitting this weekend… The joy… I can't believe my son's turning eight tomorrow!**

**Aaron T: Someone's adopted the proud parent role, yeah I'm okay I'm going back to Rwanda tomorrow… **

**Danielle S: Oh, yeah you work there don't you? How about you Matt, you've been awfully quiet...**

**Aaron T: Yeah I do work there. :D**

_**Aaron T has logged off. **_

**Matt B: I'm okay; well my ex just changed her relationship status on Facebook so I guess it's officially over between us.**

**Danielle S: Oh, well Carole here only just changed her relationship status... **

Christine stood still; it couldn't possibly be Michael could it? The idea sounded simply preposterous but it made sense, after all she had changed her relationship status less than five minutes ago… However it already seemed like Dan had made a brief connection between the two.

**Matt B: She did?**

**Evan L: Oh, weird coincidence but she's the one you still like right?**

**Matt B: Yeah, I shouldn't have ended things; I just couldn't see the school that I love get destroyed… **

**Evan L: Listen mate if I know anything about love, it's to follow your heart, I realised I was in love with somebody too late and it was the biggest mistake I ever made.**

**Matt B: You think?**

**Danielle S: Matt just follow your heart! Before it's too late, Evan is right. **

**Evan L: Listen to us Dan, they're going to call us their relationship counsellor next. :P **

**Danielle S: Well shame I didn't follow my own advice really.**

**Evan L: Likewise, Matt just go for it! Follow the new craze! YOLO is it?**

**Danielle S: Yeah, you only live once...**

**Matt B: Okay guys, great advice by the way! I hope to works out for you and your relationships. **

**Evan L: Nah, it's too late now. :) **

**Danielle S: Same here, anyway bye!**

**_Danielle S and Evan L have logged off._ **

**Matt B: Carole are you there? you've been awfully quiet.**

**_Carole M has logged off _**

Christine logged off, her mind whirring, could her wildest dreams be true? Could it really be Michael talking about her? The puzzles all fell into place, but the idea itself seemed absolutely ludicrous, why would Michael go on an Internet chat room, even one that was strictly for teachers only?

She got up and made herself a cup of tea, her mind was too hyperactive by far, and the lack of sleep was finally catching up with her. A few seconds later her phone beeped signalling that she had a new e-mail.

_Hey Christine,_

_ It's Michael and I've thought long and hard about how we left our relationship in the ashes; well that's my fault really. But I couldn't let Lorraine destroy all the hard work that I had put into helping Waterloo Road thrive to success. And although you probably think that I only recommended you for the job because I was trying to make it up to you I did it because I could see a woman trying to escape from her shell, she was trying to get out; escape even and I knew that as soon as that woman escaped Waterloo Road would have a new leader. And judging by Sonya and Audrey's updates you have been doing a great job! It turns out that my suspicions have been confirmed. I'm deathly sorry about how I just walked out of your life, and I will do anything possible to make it up to you, we're like to missing pieces in the same puzzle, my life will never be complete without you, how about we give us another shot? I won't mess it up I promise. _

_ Michael. _

Christine slowly typed out a small e-mail the e-mail was just so sweet, and it almost made her want to forgive Michael, but he treated her heart like a toy.

_Hello Michael, _

_ I looked out your email, and I've reread it several times. I wish I could believe every word you say, but you've already broken my heart before how do I know that you won't do it again? Lorraine has left now, so Waterloo Road is back on the LEA's control, which is one less thing to worry about I guess. Anyway, I was on this website just now; and I was wondering if you were Matt B, by any chance? _

_Christine._

_Hey Christine, _

_ I would've been immensely surprised if you forgave be straight away, quite honestly your answer was predictable, anyway what I propose we do is take the relationship step by step, let's not rush into anything okay? It's great that Waterloo Road, is back in the LEA's control, and if you're worried I might come back, and steal your job don't worry! I think Waterloo Road needed a change! Oh, you were there? As a matter of fact I am Matt B, would you happen to be Carole M a.k.a the person who only said like three sentences and then logged out when I said that my ex changed her relationship status? _

_Michael. _

_Hello Michael,_

_ Oh okay that's fine, I think baby steps would be the best way to make this relationship work, there is just so much I don't know about you! And I'm sure you can say likewise, oh, it wouldn't be an entirely bad thing if you returned, after all I'll probably need your expert advice from time to time. Yes, I am Carole and your status kind of freaked me out a bit, it's a small world isn't it?_

_Christine._

_Hey Christine, _

_ I'm in town right now; maybe I'll pop in later okay?_

_Michael._

_Hello Michael,_

_ That sounds great, I'll look forward to it, and maybe we should go out for a coffee in Starbucks? We can even sit on the window seat overlooking the sea; you know where we always used to sit!_

_Christine._

There was no reply after that, but an odd smile was perched on Christine's face, who knew that a simple chat room would be the greatest decision she ever made? She closed the computer, glad that Michael had finally pulled himself together to make amends, he still cared for her despite what she originally thought, maybe they could both work on their relationship, one step at a time.

"Hey mom!" Connor said, as he walked through the kitchen with Imogen in tow, Kevin and Dynasty were nowhere to be seen.

"Hi Connor, did you have a good time?" Christine said, and Connor did a double take, what had happened to the mopey attitude that his mother had adopted earlier? Now she was full of beans, and if she could he was sure she would be doing miniature cartwheels around the kitchen!

"Yes I did, are you feeling better?" He asked questioning her sudden mood swing, at first the only reply he got was a hundred Watt smile but that pretty much answered his question.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better Connor, I just heard from an old friend…" Christine said vaguely, not wanting to admit who it was until she was sure that he wouldn't let her down like he did last time.

"Oh that's great mom, see you later," he said before grabbing his coat and heading outside his arm looped around Imogen, Christine smiled to herself, against all odds they were still together, and it took a lot of willpower to make a relationship work especially one that had a lot of ups and downs.

A few hours later she was sipping coffee as she quickly started whittling down her marking for the summer holidays, the plan was to get as much done in the first week so that she wouldn't spend the last few weeks having a panic attack because she had so much left to do.

The doorbell rang, Christine went to answer it but she caught sight of herself in the mirror, she looked flustered as she straightened down her tousled hair, and quietly composed herself before answering the doorbell.

The main at the door was carrying a solitary rose and he presented to her, in romantic films this would be where he kissed her, but unlike those sceanaris he awkwardly shook her hand before embracing her into a hug. They were going to take things slow and steady, after all slow and steady wins the race.

"Christine Mulgrew," He said kneeling on one knee with a simple rectangular box in his hand, Christine stiffened was he going to do what she thought he was? He opened the box slowly, "will you take the honour of being my…" he said before pausing and deliberately not finishing keeping Christine in suspense, "girlfriend?" He finished, before opening the box to reveal a pendant shaped necklace, he didn't move a muscle as Christine's smile grew as she cradled the box in her hands.

"Michael I…" She said before stopping suddenly, he had assured her that they would be going slow and steady, but were those really his intentions? Could she do this and put herself in a vulnerable position making her heart easy to break for a second time? If they carried on like this, they would fall in the same trap, last time they had moved too quickly, before their relationship continued they needed to know each other even better than before…

** A/N So what is Christine going to do? Is she going to say yes or no? Anyway do you have any ideas what characters Aaron, Danielle and Evan are? (there are quite a few hints in the conversation) Also, I felt the need to include Tom at the start of this, I haven't seen series 5 with Chris, but from what I can gather he was good friends with Tom (was he?) I also had people like Mika, Chlo, Rose and Kacey to comment because he had a huge impact on their lives :P Who thought that Michael was going to propose at the end?! I hope you like this :D I know that no-one voted for this on the poll, but people kept requesting on my reviews + I had a good idea for this what if :) **

**Please review/favourite/follow this story, it makes my day! Plus I love it when people give me feedback- good and bad. And if you follow/favourite me as an author I'll do the same to you :) **

**Next update will either be early tomorrow (but don't hold your breath) or Tuesday. Anyway when does Waterloo Road start back again? **

**Ha ha, I just updated this chapter who liked the YOLO bit I added? You only live once!**


	18. What if Rachel was pregnant? 4x20

**What if Rachel was pregnant? 4x20**

One week was all that had passed. Just one week, seven days, 168 hours and an uncountable number of minutes… But all it took was one week to last a lifetime. A day without him was like a year without rain.

Eddie Lawson, the one who placed a smile on her face when life was at its worst, the one who kept her feet firmly on the ground, but he was gone, and he was never coming back.

Rachel Mason sighed, as she wiped her face again, sighing as the last bit of sick had disappeared from her eagle eye, she reckoned she had a bug, or the flu or something, However the first thing about it was that she couldn't put her finger on what was wrong with her, she would be sick in the morning but she wold be fine for the rest of the day…

She gathered her thoughts as she stared at her reflection in the mirror, the facts were black and white, she loved Eddie, but Eddie had dated Melissa before knowing the truth and now he had her kid to look after, it had always been Melissa… Not her.

Her phone started ringing uncontrollably, for a split second she allowed herself to fall in the trap and pretend it was Eddie for one single, solitary second, it wasn't of course, and it was Kim who Rachel had gotten to know better over recent events. She answered it quickly but without much enthusiasm, she pressed the phone to her ear nervously.

"Hey Rachel, shall we go for a coffee later?" Kim asked.

"Uh, sorry Kim I'm kind of busy at the moment," Rachel said thoughtfully, the truth was she wasn't busy but… She just didn't feel in the mood for a coffee, she would be reminded of the coffee's she had with Eddie in the seat next to the window, the memories which were once sweet had turned to sour.

Kim was worried, before the end of term, she prided herself on having a close friendship with her boss, but she would call her nearly twice a day and the answer would remain the same, it was like the life had been sucked out of her, even though she didn't know much about she knew that Rachel and Eddie had that spark that other people could only dream of. However at this moment in time Rachel needed to move on, however painful it seemed, it would only be for a few years if that, and then Eddie would only be obliged to look after his kid on the weekend or something. It didn't matter what Melissa thought of it all, in fact her concerns were really insignificant in the grand scheme of things, Eddie would support her throughout it all, and that was really more than she deserved.

"Okay Rachel," Kim called as her mind whirred back to their conversation, "Well, anyway bye then, if you need anything just asks," she finished. Rachel sighed secretly she wished that Kim would quit acting so motherly and that she would start acting more like a friend, but right now she had her own problems that she needed to solve. She went to the chemist and her hand floated above the thing that she needed to buy… A pregnancy test.

She bought four, four may seem a bit excessive to some people, but you heard about people getting inaccurate pregnancy tests all the time, it was better to be safe than sorry, the cashier's eyebrows raised and it seemed like they were on the verge of making a cutting remark before giving Rachel the change.

Rachel went home nervously, her hands dancing a nervous dance on the steering wheel, there weren't any butterflies in her stomach, instead they had been replaced by giant moths, nervous didn't even begin to describe how she was feeling right now.

Positive, one word, three syllables, eight letters, that was all it took, the life had been drained out of her, her whole world was in jeopardy again, this could easily shatter the world she was trying to build, the world without Eddie.

"Kim?" She asked, scouring the phone for someone who could help with her current crisis.

"Yeah Rachel, what is it?" Kim answered surprised to hear her friend's voice; the only difference that separated it from being a normal conversation between the two was that she could hear her friend's voice shaking with worry.

"Can you come over?" She pleaded.

"Sure, I'll be there in fifteen," Kim replied; it wasn't like she had anything better to do, plus Rachel's tone of voice was enough to make anyone worried.

Rachel kneeled on the bathroom floor sobbing; one simple mistake was all it took for her world to come crashing down, what would Eddie make of this? Or Melissa? Or Philip? Their kid, who was also Rachel's niece, would grow up knowing that their cousin was also their step-sibling… Could she really go through with this?

Kim rang the doorbell, but was genuinely surprised when the door creaked open on it's on awkward, this was a surprising gesture all the times Kim had visited the door had been locked shut, but clearly this wasn't like one of those other visits. The sound of sobbing leaked out from the bathroom, and Kim followed slowly, the door was wide open and Rachel was on her knees sobbing.

"Rachel what is it?" Kim asked, putting her arm around her as she passed her a box full of tissues.

"I've messed everything up Kim, everything, again…" Rachel mumbled, blowing into a tissue, "I finally have my life back on track and then I mess it up."

"Rachel, you're talking in riddles, what is it?" Kim repeated.

"Kim… I'm pregnant…" Rachel said the words were no more than a whisper.

"It's Eddie's isn't it?" Kim asked slowly placing the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Yes," Rachel said slowly, "but… but…" she said before coming to a decision right on the spot, "I'm having an abortion," she announced as she wiped away a few stray tears.

And that was the worst thing about her statement, when Rachel Mason made up her mind she would only rarely change it, since almost everyone agreed (although she would deny it) that she was an extremely stubborn person.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the shocking discovery, today was the day that Rachel had decided to have an abortion, and she wanted Kim to be there for moral support- even though Kim heartily disagreed with the whole process and believed that Rachel should give up the baby.

No-one could change Rachel's mind, and if anyone tried to, she would simply put her fingers in her ears and act like a little kid who hears something they don't want to hear. They had arrived at the abortion clinic, and they were about to go in when Kim spotted a dark, hooded figure lurking about in the shadows.

* * *

It was Bolton, Bolton had quite innocently been visiting his grandma, and it was just a coincidence that he had to pass the clinic, at first all he could see were two silhouettes in the moonlight, it was only when one of them turned that realisation sank in. He crept up towards the figures, careful not to make a sound; they were quietly talking to each other in hushed voices. But that wasn't the most surprising thing of all, the two figures revealed themselves to be Rachel Mason and Kim Campbell.

This was certainly some rumour to spread! Quickly his hands flew across the miniature keyboard on his phone, the thought of keeping quiet simply never occurred to him.

**Bolton S: "Mason's Preggers!" **

* * *

Philip sat on the kitchen table as he messed about on his phone, as he phone beeped as he received a new Facebook notification, his eyes widened as he read it, and he quickly typed out a reply with no time wasted.

**Philip R: "And how would you know this?" **

**Bolton S: "I was outside the abortion clinic."**

**Philip R: "How do I know that this isn't a wind up?"**

**Paul L: "Yeah, you really need to work on your stories Bolt; no-one's going to believe ****_that_****…" **

**Bolton S: "But it's the truth innit."**

**Paul L: "Whatever." **

**Philip R: "If Miss Mason was pregnant, she would've told me, I'm her nephew aren't I?" **

**Bolton S: "You tell me mate."**

Philip put his phone down nervously, was Bolton telling the truth? He went upstairs nervously his brain whirring, as it dashed off into super active mode, surely his aunt would've told him? But if she had gone into an abortion clinic perhaps she was thinking of not telling them, that was the whole point of an abortion wasn't it?

* * *

Rachel backed out at the very last minute, she couldn't do this, she would regret this decision for the rest of her life, all she had to do was look at Kim, and Kim immediately understood, this wasn't a decision you could make off the top of your head, she was considering taking a life… And that was a decision that she couldn't make on her own.

* * *

Eddie was busy making pancakes, he was surprised when Philip left the kitchen all of a sudden without his phone, the kid he thought sadly to himself was never seen without his phone, but it was a rare thing to see; a teenager without a phone, how times had changed since when he was young…

The phone hadn't even been turned off, he went over to turn it off but his eyes flickered across the screen as two words which were once a blurred mess slowly came into focus.

**Bolton S: "Mason's Preggers!" **

No… No it couldn't mean what he thought it meant could it? They had always been so careful, but Bolton seemed persistent that he was right, was Rachel Mason really pregnant? This could only mean one thing; he was the father, well… he was probably the father, if he was the father it was even worse, two sisters pregnant in a year by the same man?

"Nice going Eddie," he thought to himself as he slowly got his coat before heading in his car. He pulled his car in Rachel's driveway, the house had seemingly grown a couple of inches since his last visit making it look even grander, the house looked far too grand for a single person, had Rachel bought this house in hope that one day she would have a family of her own?

He was about to ring the doorbell when Kim came out, Kim gave him a withering smile knowing that somehow he had figured out the truth, why would he be there if he hadn't? His face looked flushed and flustered as he quickly composed himself by running his hands through his now tousled hair.

"Rachel," he whispered.

"Eddie," she replied.

"Look I know," he said referring to Bolton's Facebook status from earlier, but there was one more thing playing tricks on his mind, "is it mine?" He asked before receiving a death glare from Rachel proving that, that wasn't the best move to make. At least his suspicions were confirmed now, the worst and best thing had happened at the same time.

"Of course it's yours," Rachel said irritably and somewhat put out that he had even thought about asking that question.

"Sorry," Eddie replied and silence dominated the two.

"How did you find out?" Rachel asked curiously and Eddie had the grace to look embarrassed.

"Well Phil left his phone on, and Bolton posted a status on that… thing teenagers use… what's it called? iBook, mybook?" He said trying to recall what the website was called.

"Facebook," Rachel corrected, "well, looks like the whole school knows now."

"So, uh, did you… did you…?" Eddie started trying his hardest to refer to whether she had an abortion or not, somehow she seemed to understand his incoherent mumbling.

"No, I didn't have an abortion if that's what you're asking," Rachel replied.

"Look, Rach," Eddie finished, "I just want you to know that whatever decision you'll make I'll support you no matter what," he said before leaning in to hug her, instead she backed away afraid of what might happen and they decided that a simple hand shake suited the circumstances better.

Neither of them was aware that just a few miles away the smell of burning pancakes had engulfed the air.

**A/N On my last one-shot Danielle, Aaron and Evan are Davina, Andrew and Eddie respectively :)** **So what's going to happen now? Is Rachel going to have an abortion? Will she keep the baby or will she put it up for adoption? And how will Melissa react?** **What was your favourite scene in this what-if and why?**

**I hope you like it and reviews make my day so please review! If you like Alex Rider then check out my new fic :)**

**What couple would you like to see get a happy ending and why?!**


	19. What if Rachel & Eddie returned? 8x30

**What if Rachel & Eddie returned? 8x30**

It was the newspaper clipping that attracted all the attention, just a few words on a piece of paper that could make such a big difference to so many people's lives. Waterloo Road was once again in the news, over the years Waterloo Road had built up a huge amount of newspaper coverage, shootings, guns, stabbings, all of them ending in tragedy one way or another, but that is a story for another day.

This time no weapon was involved, it was a simple tragedy, a teacher helping a misguided pupil on a roof, but he misjudged the distance and quite by mistake he fell of the roof, it wasn't the pupil's fault but the tabloids didn't see it that way.

Rachel Fleet (although many people still referred to her as Rachel Mason, since she helped so many people under that name,) was having trouble digesting the information that sat in a heap on the coffee table.

Tom Clarkson was dead, it pained her to say those words, and how could one teacher who always put the pupils before himself fall due to the idiotic acts of a pupil? They say pride comes before fall, but Tom had never boasted before, and he was reasonably modest, in fact now that she thought about it he tended to drown in a cup of coffee and a newspaper. She remembered all those times he helped Chlo and Mika when they struggling to come to grips with the tragedies that overruled their lives, why couldn't fate be kind just for once?

_"Heroic teacher learns that pride comes before fall!"_

Was at the top of the page, there was a blurred image of the current pupils and staff of Waterloo Road, along with quite a recent picture of Tom smiling at the camera. It had happened, he was dead, although the whole scenario was quite unrealistic, but it made her wonder what Waterloo Road was like after she had left it almost four years ago.

She had settled down with Adam, he would never be Eddie, but in some ways he understood her better than Eddie, he knew her past and how she struggled, something Eddie would always be unable to relate to. She quickly bid goodbye to Adam, before deciding to drive to Waterloo Road in Greenock, it wasn't far away, maybe an hour's drive or so? And it was pure luck that there was a new position opening in History, something she had always excelled in.

She hoped that she wouldn't seem rude barging in, but there was simply no time to arrange a meeting, if she did arrange a meeting there was always a chance that her request would be denied and she didn't want to take that chance.

* * *

Eddie drank his coffee nervously, today was the day, and today was his first day at his new job at Waterloo Road. Although he wasn't quite expecting the bang the last term had ended with, when he originally applied for the job it was shortly after the old maths teacher left, what was his name? Oh, yeah Daniel Chalk.

Since then, one of his good friends, although he wasn't sure he was authorised to call him that since they hadn't spoken for four years at least, had died, his death was a tragedy, and another unfortunate event to post in the tabloids, although Waterloo Road wasn't in the tabloids nearly as much as it was five years ago. Never the less he was sad when he heard the news; it was unexpected to say the least.

Both he and Melissa agreed when the post was open that enough has passed since the whole 'I dated you but I'm in love with your sister' fiasco anyway since then Rachel had moved on, Eddie hoped she was happy wherever she was.

"Right, Melissa I'm off to Waterloo Road now," Eddie said, picking up his daughter and hugging her, and nodding in Melissa's direction. In all the time that he had known Melissa he had never once referred to her as 'Mel' or 'Issa' or any abbreviation of her name, to him she was always Melissa. Over the years they had perfected their relationship, they would never love each other in a way that a boyfriend loves his girlfriend, but they were civil to each other, and over time they were slowly becoming friends.

"Oh, okay," Melissa replied throwing him the keys, he caught them gracefully; "see you later!" She said far too chirpily.

* * *

Rachel Mason arrived at Waterloo Road, she was used to seeing the school falling down to bits, so it surprised her how posh the school looked and it was surprisingly intact. She still remembered the day Ralph Mellor got a digger and tried to destroy the school! It was funny how these little things kept cropping up in her brain.

She very nearly missed the turning; it was only by luck that she didn't who knows where she would've turned up if she had missed the turning!

She wondered where to go, but luckily she saw a couple walking towards the school; she needed to know where the heads office was or her little expedition would be pointless…

"Hey do you know where the heads office is?" She asked informally.

"You mean mu- Miss Mulgrew?" The boy replied, Rachel who was very observant noticed how he had almost said 'mum' by mistake, she very correctly assumed that Miss Mulgrew was the head teacher.

"Yes, could you show me the way please?" She asked.

"Sure, it's just over there," the girl chipped in, gesturing towards the back of the building, a wedding ring was on her finger was one of the first things Rachel noted, there was also an exact replica of the ring on the boy's finger. The thought of two teenagers getting married made Rachel slightly chuckle, as she remembered the infamous couple Chlo and Donte, who had broken up more times than she would care to mention.

"Oh, okay," Rachel said walking towards the heads office, "hello, may I speak to Miss Mulgrew please?" She asked the person she believed to be the secretary, she had a cupcake in her hand, and she was far more engrossed in reading her magazine than working.

"Do you have an appointment?" The secretary asked, looking at the list of appointments.

"No, but you see I used to work here well at Waterloo Road at Rochdale, my name is Rachel Mason," Rachel supplied, her name must have trigged some chord in Sonya's brain since she gave a confused, 'do I know you?' look, Christine wondered what was taking her secretary so look so she slid the window open, only to come face to face with a woman who she couldn't quite place.

"Oh, you must be Miss Mulgrew!" Rachel said holding her hand out, Christine nervously shook it, "I'm Rachel Mason, I used to work her about four years ago," she said, Christine's eyes widened; surely this couldn't be _the_ Rachel Mason?

"Come in, come in," She said opening the door, if this was _the_ Rachel Mason, then why was she here? Michael spoke very highly of her, and she was unofficially crowned the super head of Waterloo Road…

"I was wondering whether the post for the new history teacher is still open." She asked.

"Yes, yes, interviews are this afternoon, may I ask you something?" Christine asked.

"Sure, go ahead, although I can pretty much guess what you're going to ask me, yes, I am the ex-head of Waterloo Road, and no I'm not after your job," Rachel supplied reading Christine's thoughts.

"Oh, why've you come back then?" Christine asked.

"Well, Tom Clarkson was a former colleague of mine, and I wanted to know how the school was doing," Rachel replied openly, "have you been head long?"

"No," Christine said, "I was kind of thrown into the job, not that I don't love it, because I do, but I'm still getting to grips with everything."

"Oh, I could help you if you want?" Rachel offered, "Just until you get to grips with everything." She said.

"Really? You'd do that? I'm a bit overwhelmed that's all, interviews are the afternoon, but shouldn't we inform the LEA about our proposition?" Christine said.

"Well, the LEA will be coming this afternoon won't they? Until then I'll just help free of charge," Rachel said, "Firstly you need to get these forms sorted…" Christine smiled happily; it looked like Rachel would help until she understood this job better. Then the door opened, and Rachel saw a face, a face connected to so many memories, so many memories that she wanted to forget.

"Rachel?" The voice asked, as his eyes widened, Christine smiled, this day was getting better and better, as she went to get her new employees timetable, but he seemed taken aback to see Rachel and vice versa.

"Eddie?" Rachel said although her words came out a little more than a whisper.

"What are you doing here?" They said simultaneously, as Christine handed Eddie his timetable, but Eddie barely noticed her, did these two know each other?

"I'm the new maths teacher," Eddie said being the first to recover.

"Well I'm getting interviewed for the new position as a history teacher, until then I'm helping Miss Mulgrew get used to being head," Rachel said, silence dominated the duo, and Christine was seemingly forgotten.

Eddie absorbed Rachel from a distance, taking in her appearance, she hadn't changed much, but there seemed something different about her, "you're looking very well," he noted.

"Thank you, yes I am, how are you?" Rachel asked sounding terribly formal, "and Mel, and Philip and the baby?" She asked.

"They're all very well," Eddie replied, he knew that Melissa was a sore subject for Rachel, and she had only asked about her out of politeness, he wasn't even sure if she had forgiven her for what she had done.

Then he saw something glittering out of the corner of his eye, it was a ring, wait, it wasn't just any old ring it was… "You're married?!" He asked, or more accurately demanded, Rachel in her defence looked taken aback by his tone.

"Yes I am," she said frostily, "his name is Adam Fleet, and I'm very happy, come on we both knew that we could never be together," Rachel said.

"How long?" Eddie choked, as a wave of sadness erupted on his face.

"Almost four years," Rachel said, looking down, deep down she still loved Eddie, but they could never be together, and it was just as well that they had ended it sooner rather than later. That day was the worst day of her life, which was the day she wondered if she could ever find someone repair her broken heart…

"Well I should be going," Eddie said simply heading down the corridor.

"So I'm guessing you knew each other?" Christine asked when Eddie was out of sight.

"Yes he was deputy when I was head teacher here," Rachel said, "I loved him, and he loved me, simple right? But being the stubborn characters we are we denied it, then he fell in head over heels with my sister, too late he realised the truth, but she was pregnant and he couldn't just leave her- for her sister…" She didn't know why told a stranger about her disastrous love story, "I married, but I think he expected me to wait for him."

"Tell me about it!" Christine said, "I have a pretty bad track record when it comes to relationships too, but at least your happy now!"

"Ah, yeah, I'm happy…" Rachel said her voice trailing off.

"Look, why don't you go to the staff room? It's down the corridor," Christine said, instructing Rachel to have a cup of coffee without the fear of bumping into Eddie, since he was busy teaching the Year 13s.

Rachel went to the staff room her head whirring, just when she was thinking of making a new start at Waterloo Road, a face from the past appeared, and the one that had caused her so much hurt at that, despite what she wanted; which was for her and Eddie to be friends, she knew that there would always be a rift of awkwardness between her and Eddie.

"And I live to see the day," a recognisable voice said in their usual pessimistic tone.

"Good to see you too, Grantley!" Rachel replied.

"And she returns, this won't be the peaceful term I was hoping for," Grantley grumbled.

"Oh have you told everyone about how I got you to teach teenagers ballroom dancing?" Rachel teased, the teacher's eyes widened.

"Well those days are long gone now," Grantley grumbled.

"Or are they?" Rachel continued.

"Excuse me but who are you?" One of the teachers said, she was one of the older teachers Rachel noted, but she had a very kind face.

"Rachel Fleet, I was head a few years back although I was Rachel Mason then," Rachel supplied.

"Those Kelly's always there to make trouble," Grantley chipped in.

"Oh, I heard about poor Denzil and Sambuca too…" Rachel said sympathetically.

"Really? I thought I recognised you, I'm Audrey I teach history," The older teacher- Audrey said with a genuine smile, "were you head when that poor girl was shot?" She asked, Rachel assumed that she meant Maxine.

"You mean Maxine? Yes that was a tragedy, she was such a bright girl as well, one of our teachers was her foster mother," Rachel said, she looked at her watch as the bell rung signalling the end of the lesson she didn't know how long she had spent talking…

The door swung open and in came Eddie who was engrossed in an animated chatter with the deputy head; Simon Lowsely.

"Grantley Budgen!" He said, smiling at his former colleague, remember how Rachel had got him to take a more active role in the school, sadly it looked like all her good work had been undone, as he was reading a racing magazine like no time had passed.

"Huh," Grantley said recognising that all too familiar voice, and slowly looking up, "well never did I-" He began as he was obviously preparing to say something about the past and memories Eddie would rather forget than be reminded of, luckily he didn't manage to finish.

"Rachel, look about earlier…" He said she looked at him curiously.

"Yes Eddie?" She asked.

"I just wanted to say, I'm happy for you," Eddie replied.

"Thank you," she said, leaning in to hug him, maybe this meeting was written in fate, and for once she wasn't complaining.

"So, shall we put the past behind us, and just be friends?" Eddie asked, holding out his hand, Rachel shook it, a friend was better than anything. And being more than friends was out of the question, for the time being anyway.

**A/N I was going to do what if Nikki was on the roof, but I had minor writers block and I couldn't think of anything to write... I won't be updating as often, I was in the mood to writing some Rachel and Eddie awkward meeting moments :P I might do Tozzie next or Chlonte IDK :P Please review it makes my day! And please check out my other fanfics!**

**Congratulations to all those who got their GCSE results :) **

**Dedicated to I-Wish-Upon-Falling-Stars I'm sorry it took so long!**

**Okay, so a character is singing "you belong with me" by Taylor Swift, who is singing it and who are they singing about? IDK, that songs in my head... **


	20. What if Donte didn't save Chlo? 3x20

**What if Donte didn't save Chlo from the fire? 3x20**

The building was engulfed in flames, who knew that a simple stub of cigarette could cause so much trouble? Or maybe the gas leak in the canteen was too blame, nobody would be sure what the real cause was, it was a chain reaction, just one thing was enough to spark the fire, the fire that could ultimately destroy so many lives.

Donte's arm was wrapped around his girlfriend waist, he wanted to protect her and it meant a lot to him that she was safe; he wanted to keep her safe above all, the building was being evacuated soon it would be a building in a mess of ashes. Just moments before Bolton had burst open the door revealing several pupils along with a teaching assistant; Davina Shackleton.

However Donte couldn't help but feel curious; where was she? He couldn't lie and just say he didn't care for her any more, they had been through some difficult times, and he couldn't just forget her, but Chlo Grainger was nowhere in sight.

"Donte mate have you seen Chlo?" Tom asked his voice leaking with worry, despite the fact that he was her teacher Celine gave him a withering glare, likewise to the one she would give anyone if Chlo's name was mentioned, even if it was completely innocent.

"No sorry," Donte said feeling partly responsible, even though it was Tom who had blown up when he realised Chlo was cheating.

"Oh, okay, well I-," Tom said struggling to look on the bright side, he walked over to Mika shrugging his shoulders and assuming the worst, "if anything happens to her…" He said nervously, his body shaking with worry, "I-I will never forgive myself… I yelled at her, and I don't want her to remember her that way…"

Mika shook her head, "she'll be fine Tom, and she's got to be around her somewhere…"

"No, no she has to be in that building…" Tom argued, getting a glimpse of his ex-girlfriend being carried away on a stroller, normally he would have dashed over to play the part of the dashing hero comforting the damsel in the stress, but now was not the time, Chlo was his number one priority. Davina was conscious, but barely, Tom wanted to rush towards her and assure that everything was going to be okay, but unless he knew where Chlo was he wouldn't be able to rest. He rushed over to the burning building. After all he was Chlo's legal guardian, and the person she depended on.

"I'm going to help him," Donte announced.

Mika approached them in a worry, it was only then that Donte's phone began to vibrate.

"Chlo?" Donte replied after hearing his ex-wife's weak voice.

"Donte, Donte, I'm in the bathroom," Chlo coughed in reply

"Which bathroom?" Donte asked quickly.

"The one nearest the canteen," Chlo said weakly, that made sense the canteen was where the fire had originated from, so she would naturally be in the worst position, with flames closing in on her from every direction.

Donte rushed over, Celine desperately tried to stop him; "I'm pregnant," she announced in a blind panic, desperate times call for desperate measures after all. Donte looked stunned for a moment but already she was revving up with a basket-full of comebacks, "she's not even your wife," Celine announced, and although Donte hated to admit it she was right, she wasn't his wife any more. But he still felt obliged to tell Tom where Chlo was.

"Mr Clarkson," Donte said ignoring Celine and approaching the worried man, who now looked very small indeed, "Chlo is in the girls' bathroom the one nearest the canteen," he said before turning back.

"Donte, we need to rescue her, we need to go on the roof, and will you help me?" Tom asked curiously wondering whether Donte still had any feelings for Chlo, if the search when she was missing was anything to go by, he still cared for her.

"Sorry Mr Clarkson, no can do," Donte said guiltily, "it's too dangerous," he said numbly.

"Too dangerous?" Mr Clarkson echoed, "I thought you kids laughed in the face of danger," Donte turned back regretting his previous decision, but he didn't feel like he had any choice in the matter, Celine had told him to choose between her and Chlo, and could he really choose the person that betrayed him? Regardless of what he said about it being too dangers, Mr Clarkson hoisted himself on the roof with no further questions asked.

"Tom mate what are you doing?" Eddie yelled from the ground, when Tom successfully managed to get onto the roof.

"Chlo- she's in the bathroom," Tom answered, wielding a large pipe that would hopefully break through into the glass of the window. "Stay clear of the window Chlo," he said, trying to smash the window open, it wasn't long before he was joined by another member of staff.

"Tom, the fire fighters will be here soon, it's too risky," Eddie said, "just play it by the book for once Tom," He finished, gently laying a hand on Tom's shoulder.

"No Eddie, Chlo, Mika, I couldn't bear it if anything happened to them…" Tom replied, "you don't understand what they've been through in the past year…" He said turning around quickly, with the pipe in his hands, he underestimated the height of the pipe since unfortunately Eddie was on the receiving end of the pipe, and he was knocked out as it collided with his head.

"Eddie, Eddie?" Tom asked looking at his colleague who was lying on the floor peacefully, he was unconscious, quickly using the little amount of strength he had left he put Eddie in the recovery position before warning Chlo once more to stand well away from the window as he smashed it open, successfully this time.

* * *

"The hour has come for chaos to take over," a pessimistic voice said as a group of people stared at the seemingly organised chaos that was taking place on the roof, it had resulted in Eddie being seemingly unconscious and Tom smashing the window of the girl's bathroom, the person speaking was of course Grantly who was continuing to brighten everyone's day.

"What is happening up there?" Jasmine replied.

"I don't know," Matt said numbly, both of them were scared stiff and directed the paramedics to the direction of the roof, this time however Tom was nowhere to be seen. Eddie was carried out on a stretcher; there was no permanent damage although it was a rather nasty gash on his head, which would soon take form of a bruise.

The damage wasn't serious, for just a few moments later Eddie woke up, blinking his eyes rapidly as he laid, his eyes open on the stretcher. "Where's Rachel?" Were the first words out of his mouth.

"I thought she was with you?" Jasmine replied curiously, where was their boss that they had discovered so much about in the past few hours?

"No, she went for one last look around the school," Eddie said weakly, "final checks," he said before closing his eyes again. The paramedic nearest to him looked faintly alarmed and called over the nearest fire-fighter alerting them that there was still a person in the burning building. Fire-fighters rushed inside the building and it wasn't long before they came out victorious with Rachel Mason and Stuart Hoardley, but no Chlo Grainger, both were unconscious, barely breathing, but never the less they were still alive.

* * *

Tom eventually opened the window and gestured for Chlo to come over, Chlo struggled to make her way to the window; she was just mere centimetres from grasping Tom's hand, the exhaustion caught up with her and she fainted. Tom's eyes widened, as he quickly jumped down from the window, sure it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but he needed to make sure that Chlo was safe. He shook her and she blinked rapidly trying to stay awake.

"Tom…" She muttered, and Tom sincerely hoped that someone had noted their disappearance, as he struggled to muffle the flames as he wrapped his jacket around Chlo, trying to protect her as much as possible but he knew that it wasn't going to be enough.

* * *

Half an hour had passed since Tom had left to go in search for Chlo, Mika made her way to the back of the school to crane her neck to try and find Tom, but he was nowhere to be seen. In fact that the last time she had seen him was before Eddie had been taken away on the stretcher.

This meant only one thing; he had gone into the bathroom…

"Sir! Sir!" She said flinging her arms around wildly trying to attract the attention of the fire-fighter, luckily out of the corner of his eye he spotted her.

"What is it Miss?" He asked looking at Mika's eyes that were aching with worry.

"My step-father and my sister are in that building…" She said her eyes filling with tears.

"Where are they?" The fire-fighter said urgently.

"In that bathroom, over there," Mika said gesturing towards the bathroom.

"We've got a situation here," the fire-fighter said talking to the over nearby fire-fighters, immediately the raced towards the bathroom, and climbed on the roof spraying the room with water, and pulling first Tom up and then Chlo it took a huge amount of effort, but eventually Chlo came into view, she was unconscious and even though they would have to take her to the A&E, at least there was still hope.

* * *

Two days passed in the blink of an eye, which was how long Chlo was unconscious for, during this entire time Tom and Mika had refused to leave her side, Tom received minor burns but Chlo's injuries were far worse. They weren't the only patients at Waterloo Road, when Chlo was receiving medication Tom would visit the other patient that he was close too; Davina, often he would bump into Eddie who spent his time visiting Rachel.

Donte opened the door nervously, Tom took this as an opportunity to excuse himself as he guessed that the two had things too discuss privately, he decided to take Mika to buy food from the hospital canteen before bidding a small hello to Donte.

"Chlo look I'm sorry," Donte said.

"No, Donte thank you for telling Tom," Chlo interrupted.

"I do still care for you," Donte argued.

"But you still love Celine," Chlo replied, Donte nodded numbly, but that wasn't the case, he wasn't sure if he truly believed Celine when she said she was pregnant, in fact he doubted whether she was telling the truth, but why would she lie?

_**A/N I think this chapter is utterly bonkers IDK why! I changed the scene around so that Davina comes out before Chlo is rescued, I like to think that Eddie would visit Rachel in hospital but IDK. Aw, so what do you think, will Donte realise the truth? Will he get back together with Chlo despite not rescuing her and not breaking up with Celine?**_

_**Please review it makes my day & sends me to cloud nine!**_

_**Who's looking forward to series 9 in 6 days and 23 hours? Who are you looking forward to seeing the most?**_


	21. What if Eddie & Rachel got engaged? 4x20

**What if Eddie and Rachel got engaged? 4x20**

It was the last day of term, a day to celebrate, and hopefully today would be less dramatic than last year, at least now there was no secrets separating Eddie and Rachel. It almost seemed to peaceful, no wicked blackmailers out to get revenge, no examiners claiming that pupils were cheating, things were finally started to fall into place in Rachel's life.

It hadn't been a perfect year what with the Kelly's and her sister's brief engagement with her deputy, but now things was starting to look up. Eddie was grinning impishly in the doorway like a cocky year eleven, behind his back he presented a bunch of flowers and unlike the cliché romance stories they weren't red roses but yellow roses; Rachel's favourites.

She graciously took the flowers smiling as she placed them in the vase, but it was his next movements that surprised Rachel, he got on one knee and the action looked all too familiar to Rachel. But he couldn't… Could he?

"Rachel Mason will you marry me?" Eddie Lawson said popping the question after a long time of debating, he presented a solitary ring in a little box with a bow in it, Rachel sighed this scene was all too familiar, just a few months ago it was her sister Melissa he was proposing too, could she really go through with this and metaphorically stab her sister in the back?

"Uh-," She said weakly not quite sure how to reply, her train of thought was interrupted as the door burst open nosily with Bridget putting her hands up in a surrender position.

The figure that was a mere silhouette in the doorway was leaning across the door in a lazy manner, she had straight, blonde hair, and her round tummy gave a clear indication that she was pregnant.

"You," She said glaring accusingly at Eddie, "and you," she said this time looking at Rachel with narrowed eyes.

"Melissa, you don't understand-," Rachel began, going over to comfort her clearly pregnant sister, "it's not what it looks like," she finished lamely, but the problem was it was exactly what it looked like.

"Well, what is going on here?" Melissa demanded accusingly, "explain," she demanded looking at Eddie and Rachel in turn, she didn't mention that she had already bumped into Philip during the short journey from the school gates.

"Melissa I think you need to explain, this," Eddie said gesturing towards her stomach, and quickly turning the tables.

"Yes firstly I am pregnant," Melissa said stating the obvious, "and secondly it is yours, but it doesn't look like you're going to be around to help," she spat accusingly, narrowing her eyes. Melissa then walked out the room, slamming the door in a flourish, trying not to cry, this was what she feared would happen but she hadn't expected their relationship to progress so much.

She felt betrayed, a few months ago they were the two people who she trusted the most, but sometimes the people who we trust the most hurt us the most.

"Eddie," Rachel muttered hopelessly, "what are we going to do?"

"I'll lend her money," Eddie said, "and maybe I can babysit on weekends?" He offered as he felt himself drowning in the deep end of his problems.

"No, I meant… us, the wedding," Rachel finished, "can we really do this?"

Eddie looked out the window, honestly he had tried to forget the question that had been playing tricks on his mind for the past few minutes since Melissa dropped the bomb, just a few minutes ago the wedding sounded like a brilliant plan now it just seemed so far-fetched. Could he really do this? Could he really expect Rachel to do this?

He knew Rachel loved him, but this was a big request, even though Melissa had hurt her terribly, she was still family, the only family that he had ever heard her speak of without vengeance.

"I don't know," He said, it wasn't the smartest answer, but it was the most truthful answer, Melissa was like a whirlwind trying to destroy everything that he had tried to rebuild.

"Look, I need to go to the show choir competition," Rachel said, hugging Eddie as he gave her a small peck on the cheek, "if you see Philip just tell him that everything will be okay in the end? Alright, bye." She said quickly.

"Okay Rach, we'll sort this out later okay?" Eddie said, truthfully he'd like to rewind to the past morning so that he could change the outcome of the morning, but no matter what he wanted he couldn't turn back time.

Rachel went to the show competition with a heavy weight on her shoulders, it was only when she looked down that she realised that Eddie must have sub-consciously slipped the ring on her finger when she wasn't looking, despite the fact that she never officially said 'yes,' but in her heart she had said 'yes' a long time ago.

"Good, are we all ready?" Matt said as he climbed aboard the on the bus, doing a final head check, the scene was wrong Philip should've been on this bus, and everything would've been far simpler if he was on the bus, she was certainly glad that she wasn't there during the Melissa and Philip reunion, he would certainly add flames to the already burning fire.

"Tough day?" Matt asked as he took a seat next to Rachel, she nodded.

"Yeah, things don't always go the way they want do they?" Rachel said laughing lightly, as she wrung her hands together nervously, this small action was enough to cause Matt to look down at her hands as he spotted the ring glinting in the poor light.

"Rachel…?" He asked his eyes fixated on his ring, "you're engaged?" He asked curiously without moving his eyes from her ring.

"Uh, yeah…" Rachel said somewhat awkwardly, "with Eddie, but I don't think it will happen…" She said doubtfully twisting her ring, as she resisted the urge to let a small tear slip from her eye. For one fleeting second Matt looked like he wanted to question further but he decided against it.

"Oh, uh-," Matt said, "well I'm sure it will work out in the end," he finished.

* * *

If Rachel thought that her day was one of the worst in the history of bad days she was wrong, Eddie was having an even worse day than her, now he had a day of entertaining Melissa and Philip to look forward too, and although he quite liked Philip he knew Melissa would be especially awkward given their history.

"How could you?" She said storming towards Eddie shortly after Rachel left, there was no mistaking the clear tears in her crystal blue eyes, she felt betrayed there was no question about it. "I trusted you, I trusted her," she said spitting out the word 'her' she glared at Eddie.

"Melissa, I-you need to understand," Eddie said, "you and I it's over, you lied to me, you lied!" Eddie finished, sure it wasn't the best comeback but it was the best he had, plus it was the truth, he was pretty sure she knew they were over so why did she return.

"But my sister!" Melissa said outraged, "why her, of all people why her?" She asked curiously, that made their situation all the more difficult.

"You said so yourself," Eddie began, "that day, you said I was in love with Rachel, you were right," he continued thinking back to that day, "you have no-one to blame but yourself, if you didn't say anything we may never have realised it!" He said accusation in his tone.

"Well that was because you were both too stubborn for your own good," Melissa finished, angrily, annoyed that he dared to turn the tables on her, "I didn't come back for us you know, I came back, so you can help look after the baby and I," she retorted.

"Melissa get it into your head, there is no us, understand? And where exactly does Philip fit into that equation? The kid you walked out on?" He asked.

"Look I meant Philip as well, I just don't want our baby to grow up without a father like Philip did," she said.

"You don't care about Philip," Eddie accused, "you only care about yourself, I'll send you money, benefit, whatever I'll even babysit on weekends if you want, but you have to understand, I love Rachel now," Eddie finished.

Melissa glared, how dare he? Of course she cared about Philip he was her son after all! "You've chosen her over me," she accused.

"You lied to me!" Eddie said, Melissa glared at the injustice of this.

"So did Rachel," Melissa retorted, how he dare accuse her of lying! When Rachel her sister and his current fiancée had also lied to him for the first year she had worked at Waterloo Road.

"But I wasn't engaged to Rachel, when were you going to tell me? On our honeymoon, on the birth of our first child or never?" Eddie replied sarcastically, she had never intended to tell him and truth was like a burden for poor Philip.

"Mom-?" A faint voice called as the two bickered.

"Philip?" Melissa asked, even though it was quite obviously Philip, but he seemed more grown up yet more relaxed with an aura that had never been apparent when she had looked after him. "I missed you!" She exclaimed, trying and failing to hug Philip, he backed away slightly.

"Where were you?" Philip asked.

"I just had to sort some things out that's all," Melissa said lightly.

"Did you go to the police?" He asked in return ignoring her light tone.

"No-," Melissa began but that was enough, Philip's suspicions were now confirmed, his mother didn't have the guts to announce the crimes she had committed. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, Melissa was slow to follow but both of them came to the same conclusion of where he would run too; the place where all his troubles would end; the police station.

* * *

Eddie sincerely hoped that Melissa and Philip would make up, as for his current dilemma he had no clue what to do, could he really just abandon the baby like he had abandoned Michael, if it wasn't for Rachel the. Two would still share the distant relationship. A few hours passed in the blink of an eye, soon both Philip and Melissa returned avoiding looking at each other in the eye, never the less at least they were safe.

_Bang._

Eddie jumped, what was that noise? He had never heard anything like it, but it sounded vaguely near but he couldn't quite place the direction it was coming from.

_Bang! Bang!_

There it was again, he put his fingers in his ears trying to muffle the sound, but this only seemed to make it louder. He walked out of the office and down the corridor with a vague indication of where it was coming from; the front of the school. When he got to the front of the school, with Melissa and Philip in tow, he saw a taxi in the near distance; Rachel, that was the only person it could be.

"Mr Mellor, Mr Mellor," she started to call rapidly, her words forming an incoherent sentence, then she made the vital error of standing right in front of the digger; where she could easily get killed if Ralph Mellor made one wrong move; or one deliberate wrong move.

"You idiot Rachel." Eddie muttered under his breath, did she really have to put herself in all these life-threatening positions? It was starting to become an obligation; the final check around the fire, finding Denzil with a gun, standing in front of Ralph Mellor and the digger.

He climbed up on the digger and pushed Ralph out of the way seizing the controls and moving the digger backwards out of harm's way, before he called the police; today was the downfall of Ralph Mellor.

He gave a thumb up sign to Rachel as the police came; they made a good team, there was no question about that! After the digger and the police car had disappeared into the horizon, Rachel hugged Eddie unaware of the other current onlookers that included her nephew and her sister.

Melissa cleared her throat and then made a startling gesture; she slapped Rachel, her hand collided with Rachel's cheek, and she made the gesture without a second thought, before she ran away out of sight and out of time.

"Rach are you okay?" Eddie asked soothingly, Rachel rubbed her cheek in surprise.

"Just shocked I guess," she said, "but I can't believe she's doing this again," she said overcoming her shock "look we need to go after her," Rachel finished.

"Have you seen Melisa run?" Eddie asked curiously, "We can never catch up with her…" He said clueless.

"Really Eddie, she's pregnant, she wouldn't want to do anything to hurt the baby, I know my sister," Rachel finished, but there seemed to be a lot she didn't know about her sister nowadays and it was coming back to bite her in the face, "plus we have the car," she said tossing the keys in the air then catching her.

She made her way to the car with Philip and Melissa in tow; they were in the car for less than five minutes before they saw a faint speck of Melissa's hair, Melissa wasn't running but instead settled for a brisk job. However little Rachel knew about Melissa, she was right when she said Melissa wouldn't do anything to hurt the baby.

"Mel!" Rachel cried, enveloping her sister in a hug, despite everything they had been through they were sisters first and foremost.

"Rach I-I I'm so sorry, about…" She said indicating towards Rachel's cheek.

"Don't worry about it," Rachel said adopting the light tone that Melissa had used earlier that day, "just stay here, please," she pleaded, "for Philip. We can work something out," she assured Melissa.

"Is there any way that I can make it up to you?" Melissa pleaded this time to Philip; her eyes were wide with sorrow.

"Mum, you need to go to the police," Philip said, "please," this was a big thing to ask but in Philip's mind it was the best solution; unless she legally got a divorce from his father or James.

"Uh-," Melissa pondered over the question; was he really making her do this, "but what happens if I go to prison Phil?" She asked, looking like a kid whose hand had been caught in the cookie jar. Rachel put a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder.

"The police will respect you for being honest, you don't want your lies to blow up in your face like mine did," she said gently referring to the incident that happened exactly a year ago.

"Okay…" Melissa said cautiously, "promise you'll stand by me?"

"Always," Rachel said with a little input from Eddie and Philip, as they're opinions of her soared just for being open and honest about it if it all went according to plan, "sisters forever and always."

"Well bye," Melissa began as she started to walk away Philip following her, "and you should get engaged, I suspected that you loved each other right from the day I saw you working together, I-I… I'm sorry; if I do go to prison, look after the baby won't you?" She asked looking at Eddie first and then Rachel, who in turn looked startled.

"Mel-," She began but she was cut off by her sister.

"Please, you'll make great parents I'm sure of it," Melissa said, "wasn't it you who cured the distant relationship between Eddie and his son?" She said teasingly in her normal light-heartened manner.

"Bye Mel," Rachel said overwhelmed, she hugged her sister, hopefully this wouldn't be the last time she saw her sister.

"Melissa," Eddie said shaking her hand with his, somehow a hug wasn't quite on the agenda, all things considered.

"Well you know where to find me- us," Rachel corrected as Eddie tossed Melissa his car keys, knowing that he would go in Rachel's car to make sure that she didn't back out later, but right now Philip would make sure she didn't back out. As the two disappeared from view, Rachel's phone began to vibrate.

"Hello, Kim?" She asked and then nodded before screaming into her phone, "that's amazing! Tell Matt congrats from me!" She nodded a bit more a radiant smile on her face, "it's all sorted now, and Waterloo Road is still standing, okay, okay, bye," she finished before placing the phone back in her pocket. "We won! We won!" She said hugging Eddie, he quickly kissed her, nothing was standing in his way now, and fireworks were exploding as soon as their lips touched.

"So Rachel Mason, will you marry me?" He asked taking her ring off and placing it back in the box, as he redid the scene they began earlier.

Rachel answered without a second thought, "yes, yes, of course," she yelled happily, and kissed Eddie as if her life depended on it.

Neither of the two realised that Rachel hadn't turned her phone of, and Kim was able to hear every word that they were saying…

_**Please **__**Review! Please, it makes me smile and laugh and sends me to cloud nine!**_

_**And the exclamation mark button is missing, so every time I use it, it posts like three exclamation marks!**_


	22. What if Lenny didn't rescue the cat? 9x2

**What if Lenny didn't rescue Audrey's Cat? 8x2**

Lenny wrung his hands in frustration at complete loss at what to do as he headed into the school house on his own; he dodged the snide comments that asked where his Siamese twin was, and quickly scanned his way through the crowd.

He couldn't believe he was doing this, Lisa was so going to kill him, but Mcfall, really loved that cat, he could see it in her eyes, the cat was all she was had left, just like Lisa was all he had left, could he bear it if someone took Lisa away from him?

And yes granted she was the reason he now lived in the school house, she was the one who called the cops on Larry, she was the enemy, at least in Lisa's eyes, but thanks to her, he didn't have to worry about food, or getting money any more, he could be a real teenage boy, something he had always dreamt about.

"Lenny what're you doing?" A voice called and Lenny grimaced, as the figure came into view, it was Maggie the strict but caring housemistress, she was scowling at Lenny as she came to the conclusion that he was up to something, "shouldn't you be at school?" She asked curiously her eyes narrowed.

"Yes Miss, but its break," Lenny began slowly retreating his steps hoping that he could dodge past Maggie and head upstairs unnoticed.

"Did you forget something?" Maggie asked, Lenny nodded, "well go and get it then," she said and Lenny whizzed past her faster than the speed of light, but luck wasn't on his side as realisation dawned on him as she followed him upstairs.

He stood outside the door nervously, she couldn't go in there, if she went in there, all of Lisa's plans would be spoilt, he fingered the tin of cat food that was in his pocket, but if she were to find the cat then it would solve all their problems, McFall would get her cat back, and Lisa wouldn't drown it…

But if that did happen then he would be caught as well as Lisa, and they would be blamed, and it would destroy the fragile beginnings they were starting to break, he dived in his back and his hands grasped hold of a book, and from his bag produced an English book, "found it!" He said waving it in front of Maggie, the lie sounded plausible but his acting skills weren't great, if he was Maggie he certainly wouldn't believe the terrible performance that he had just given…

"Oh, okay then," Maggie said suspiciously, not sure whether to believe Lenny's performance or not, but she didn't have any further say on the matter as Lenny was already bounding down the stairs at a hundred miles an hour, he was acting strangely suspicious but she couldn't exactly put her finger on it. However in Lenny's haste he had made one vital error, the tin that he had been fingering in his pocket had fallen out of his pocket and had rolled down his stairs as it broke with a simple crack.

But by that time he was out of the door, and he had fled from the scene, as he dodged his way back to the school. Upon hearing the noise Maggie went downstairs to investigate, it was a tin of cat food, and her eyes analysed the tin curiously….

Why did Lenny have a tin of cat food? She wondered to herself as she headed upstairs, as she reached the door to his room that he shared with Lisa, she paused normally she would dread to even think of doing anything like this, she didn't like to snoop into other people's business, especially the people she looked after, she opened the door slowly, and peered in.

It was like any ordinary bedroom, clothes everywhere; left, right and centre, you could scarcely see the floor that was hidden under the mop of clothes but there was no cat, she gave a small sigh of relief, did she really just suspect Lenny of all people of stealing Audrey's cat? Sure, he had the motive to doing it but it wasn't in his character…

Meanwhile the cat had escaped and was running amok in the house, out of sight and out of time. Lenny hurried back to school where Lisa was watching him with prying eyes.

"Where have you been?" She enquired as she stared at him with narrowed eyes, Lenny was about to open his mouth in reply, but he closed in quickly until an answer was formulated in his mind, when making conversation with his sister he had to be very cautious not to make her mad, but that was before and this was now.

"I was going to give McFall her cat back," he said bravely, but his brave interior was shattered as he quickly hurried inside dodging the wrath of his sister.

"Are you mad?" She asked, grabbing his bag, as she assumed that the cat was in his bag, she was wrong, since at that particular moment the cat was hiding behind Mrs Mulgrew's car, at the other end of the car park. "Lenny tell me your joking," she demanded in a harsh tone, Lenny closed his eyes furiously already regretting his former words and wishing that he could just gobble them up again, "you know what you're just a big disgrace to our family," she said before grabbing his bag and tipping the contents out expecting to find the cat, however when she didn't she was furious and kicked the book so hard that the pages went flying.

Lisa walked away, and that was the hardest thing for Lenny to accept, Lisa was walking away she was leaving him, but he simply couldn't go down the route she was going down, Nikki who had witnessed all the commotion came down as he continued to pick up his books.

"Are you alright?" She asked Lenny and it was all too much for him, he didn't deserve her kindness he didn't deserve anyone's kindness. She then swallowed not wanting to believe Lisa's accusation but there was only one way forward and that was by asking him, "Lisa told me you knew where Mrs McFall's cat was…" She began slowly, Lenny much to her relief nodded, but she couldn't help feeling disappointed as well.

"I do, but Lisa stole it she wanted to get back at McFall, she was going to drown it…" He said wiping a few stray tears from his eyes, Nikki nodded sympathetically and ushered him to go on," Nikki stood back on tenterhooks wondering whether to believe him or not, she followed him to the school house where they were greeted by a very agitated Maggie.

"Lenny is this yours?" She said holding out the cracked tin of cat food.

"Yes, the cat is upstairs," Lenny said heading upstairs to get the cat, Maggie didn't mention anything about already looking in his room, since she didn't want to shatter the wall between the pupil and the housemistress, anyway she wasn't planning on letting it happen again, "I can't find her," he said glumly holding out his empty hands.

"So there's a cat on the loose?" Maggie said her voice rising with panic, the bell rang to signal the start of the next and final lesson of the day, lucky it was one of Nikki's free periods, and she was very relieved since it gave her a little time to search for the cat without Audrey's prying eyes.

"Yes, look Lenny go to your next class and we'll look for the cat okay?" Nikki said not daring to dart a glance at either of the two, Lenny nodded and headed to his next lesson, as Nikki searched the yard and Maggie inspected the house for any sign of the cat. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into double digits, almost twenty minutes had past and neither of the two had much luck, suddenly a speck of black and white caught Nikki's eye.

"Maggie!" She yelled at the cat gave a little yelp; she scooped it up with two arms and passed into Maggie who was smiling.

"Well that's a relief," she said as she gave the cat the cracked tin of cat food, "honestly; don't these kids ever follow the rules?" She said, the question being rhetorical.

"No doubt it was Lisa's doing," Nikki said, "it seems like Lenny was looking after the cat the best he could," she said smiling as she gazed at the cat who Audrey loved so much, sometimes the simplest things can bring the biggest happiness.

They went into the school house, and they were greeted by a usual pessimistic Grantly who was getting fed up of the lack of things to do, since he had already scoured the school house for any readable material earlier that morning.

"Cats foul and disgusting creatures," he said peering over his newspaper. "And how did this one get here may I ask?" He asked, not bothering to wait for a reply.

"It's Audrey's cat," Maggie said.

"The silly carless woman, and how did it get here?" He asked, but the question must've been rhetorical since he walked out the room just moments after he said it.

The cat ate the food greedily and lapped out the milk that Maggie had placed on a dish other than that silence dominated the room. The bell soon went, and as agreed Nikki went to find Audrey and prevent her from leaving whilst Maggie waited for Lenny who would have to turn up sooner or later, at this specific moment in time everything was going to plan.

It wasn't long before Lenny arrived on his own, without his Siamese twin, he was nervous Maggie could tell as he leaned over to take the cat with trembling hands before heading towards the now vacant History classroom. But much to his disbelief and despite the fact that it was ten minutes after the end of the school day, it wasn't completely empty, Audrey was sitting down marking her work, or trying to anyway, her vision was blurred by tears, and quite frankly she was mystified by what Nikki had just said.

Lenny knocked on the door with a faint rap, a tap, tap, and "come in!" She called opting for her usual cheery alter-ego, but it was the farthest thing from her current mood, "Lenny what can I do for you?" She asked, and that was when Lenny let the cat out the bag, literally.

"Lenny?" She asked mystified, as her vision was once again blurred with tears; but this time they were happy tears, and she was over whelmed, she had almost given up hope on ever finding her cat, but now…

"Miss, I'm sorry," Lenny said before Audrey enveloped him into a huge hug.

"Oh, I simply have to tell Moira!" Audrey said grabbing her phone and turning it on, before realising that the phone itself was upside down.

"Who's Moira?" Lenny asked curiously.

"My pen pal!" Audrey enthused, and Lenny scratched his head thoughtfully, he was sure he had heard that name before, but now he was determined not to get caught up in another one of Lisa's schemes…

**A/N Please review it makes my day! How are you lot enjoying series 9 so far?**

**What should I do next, please review your suggestions!**

* * *

_**Dear guest, I get what you're saying, and fair enough, I don't normally do that and when I realised that I did it I cringed )': I know that my writing is not the best in the world and I mainly do this for fun! But I wanted to see what people made of the happenings in the chapter and whether they liked what happened or whether they would've changed it, if you have any tips to improve my writing please say. Anyway thank you for reviewing and pointing that out.**_


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